Remastered
by Xuric
Summary: Ash and Pikachu have to start their journey to stardom from somewhere. As they set out to take Kanto - and the world - by storm, it seems that no matter what they do, Team Rocket are always there, and always three steps ahead. An anime reboot with an eventual OP Ash, competent Team Rocket and a Brock that actually does something!
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note;**_

 _Before we begin I'd like to thank everyone who clicks on this story for their time, regardless of whether they proceed with it further or not. This idea has burned in the back of my mind in various iterations before I've finally managed to settle on this._

 _The story is currently being rewritten as I wrote myself into something of a hole before, but now I'm back on track, taking the advice and criticisms on board to make this story better than ever._

 _Like many other stories out there, this is a re-telling of Ash's original journey from Kanto onwards. It will be an AU from there, with an Ash who starts off just as fresh and newbie as in the anime, but grows into the master we all want him to be. The anime used him as a audience surrogate, aimed to be initially unintelligent to introduce people to the world. Here, I'm doing something similar. He'll seem unremarkable compared to those who have been around pokémon for years, but the more time he spends with them and the more he learns, the more he'll turn into the hero we're familiar with. This is his journey, warts and all, from nobody in a small town to the one trainer in the world everyone knows. The anime will be used as a base, with other forms of media exerting their influence. The world is darker, yet not full grimderp. Hopefully it rests on a happy medium between the two. Thus, the situations Ash finds himself in will be different, the fic itself will be more grounded in reality, yet with some of the anime's cheer and fun._

 _What sets this apart though, is that the focus isn't entirely on Ash. Rather than him being the Chosen One of legend, central to all things Plot as per the anime, I'm taking a different route here. We see the view points of all other main members of the cast. Oftentimes, events will happen without Ash ever knowing of them. Other times, we'll see the fallout of events that begun with Ash, or vice versa._

 _That being said, a quick disclaimer and then onto the story. I hope you enjoy what I've done with the place._

 _Disclaimer_

 **Pokémon** is a registered trademark of Satoshi Tajiri, Game Freak, the Pokémon Company, Nintendo, etc. All trademarked characters, locations, themes and ideas are used without permission in a work of fan-created fiction. The following has been done without profit for purely entertainment purposes. All original concepts, characters, themes and ideas within are the copyrighted property of the author, and are not to be reproduced without his prior consent.

* * *

 _ **Remastered**_

 _ **By Xuric**_

 _Prologue_

* * *

Pikachu was dying, kept alive only by the wonders of machines and the pokémon's own sheer force of will.

As he stared at his starter pokémon on life support, with needles piercing his tiny arms and the machines beeping as they continued to keep him alive, Ash felt the lump in his throat continue to grow. His pokémon could _die_. His pikachu, who he had barely even known for a day and yet had already been through so much with, could be gone before their adventure had begun.

"Hey buddy," Ash said, wrapping his fingers around his pokémon's paw. He listened to the way the heart monitors sped up and prayed it was good news. "We've not really gotten off to a good start, have we?" He tried to laugh, but it died in his throat. Instead he made a choking, half sobbing sound. "Sorry. I guess it's mostly my fault, isn't it? If I hadn't been so eager to beat Gary, if I hadn't been so _stupid_ and attacked that spearow, then maybe, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

He sniffed and wiped at his eyes with the palms of his hands. "I haven't actually really told you anything about myself, have I? I guess maybe I should start there. The nurses said that you'll take time to recover, and I'm not leaving until you're better, so I'll tell you stories to keep us both entertained, okay?"

He blew out a long, shaky breath. "How about I tell you about my mom first? She's amazing. I know you'll love her."

 **-O-O-O-**

 _Two minutes left._

She closed the front door behind her soundlessly, her breath caught in her throat as she tiptoed her way back into the house. She kicked off her worn, once-pink running shoes and tucked them beneath the lime-green couch, replacing them with her pristine white, obnoxiously fluffy white house slippers. The lipstick she so delicately applied last night was removed with a quick scrub of a baby wipe, performed even as she moved through the barely-touched living room and into the kitchen. A quick glance confirmed for her that the food is where it should be, pre-packaged and awaiting a radioactive blast from the microwave. The coffee machine, as if having sensed her presence, made certain the her liquid saviour was ready and waiting.

She snatched the pot from the machine and, not bothering with a mug, gave the pot a quick, cursory blow before she sipped at it. She was still moving, taking the pink, frilly apron from the back of the kitchen door and layering it over her back and green, somewhat dirtied running gear. Her hair is treated last; scooped up into a quick ponytail to complete the lie.

She placed the coffee pot back down, finally pouring herself a mugful. A quick glance in the mirror told her that she looked passable.  
 _  
He'll never know._

Breakfast was left cooking in the microwave as she made her way up the stairs. Able to hear the snoring from halfway up the stairs, she ignored the dusty photographic timeline that decorated the stairwell and made a beeline directly for the sound. The white, wooden door opened without a sound, allowing her to slip in as undetected as a few hours previously. When Samuel had called her over for a quick late night rendezvous, he had asked her to switch off Ash's alarm and make certain that he woke up late. Though she could not be certain what his plan was, Delia had done as he requested.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, touching the curtains in a manner that made the room almost glow blue. She sat gently on the edge of the bed, eased the well-practiced smile onto her face and begun to smooth his soft black hair, humming as she did so.

"Ash," she whispered. He made a soft, sleepy noise. "Ash," she repeated, louder. He answered with a snore.  
 _  
"Ash Ketchum!"_

He woke in an instant, snorting and sitting bolt upright in one movement. He moved so quickly that he nearly smashed his skull into her nose - it was only her quick reflexes that saved her from a black eye and a broken nose. She moved back across the bed, smoothing out the flicker of irritation that she felt crossing her features.

"Morning Sweetie," she said gently. As she placed one hand on his shoulder, she worked out the kinks in his hair with her other hand. "You overslept."

"Overslept?" he echoed, his brown eyes foggy with a half-asleep haze. Within a moment he had blinked it away, suddenly awake as he shouted, "I overslept? I can't have overslept! Today's too important!"

"Ash, honey, it's fine," she said, attempting to soothe him. "Come on." She swept him up in a hug, cradling his head against her chest and stroked his hair again. "Don't rush around in a panic. If you do that, you'll make a mistake and turn up in just your pyjamas." She laughed, picturing the image. "Now you don't want that, do you?"

"No," he answered, sulkily.

"Good." The shrill screams of the microwave echoed from downstairs. "Now come on, Ash," she said, standing. "Let's get something to eat first, then you can make your way to the lab and collect your first pokémon, okay?"

"But what if they're all gone?" he asked, sounding very much on the verge of tears.

"I'm sure they won't be," she answered, smiling. She had asked as much the night before. "If this is the last time we get to see each other for some time, I want to make sure we enjoy the moments we have left. Now, go lay the table. Mommy will catch up in just a moment, okay? She just needs to make an important phone call."

The smile had long started to hurt her cheeks. She felt relief flood through her like a ruptured dam when he obeyed quickly, moving downstairs without a complaint. When she was certain that he had moved out of earshot, she crept towards her bedroom and unlocked it with the key kept around her neck at all times. With the door closed and locked behind her, she stood in the middle of the spartan room and dialled a number from memory, placing the phone to her ear before it began to ring.

As ever, it picked up instantly. The voice on the other side sighed, sounding bored before the conversation had begun. _"Before you begin, please use my name. I'm beginning to forget what it even is."_

"One hour until the spearow has flown the coop," Delia said quickly, her tone flat. "Will update with further details once the nest is vacated."

 _"Oh,"_ the voice on the other side said. _"Good to know. Dismissed."_

Rather than disconnecting the phone, she pried open the back of the case and removed the sim card, snapping it between her finger and thumb. Making certain to lock the door behind her as she left, the practiced, effervescent smile that graced her face seemed to come easier than before.

"So Ash," she said as she entered the kitchen, finding him struggling with an orange peel. There was a strange feeling in the back of her mind, as if there was something important she needed to share. Her thoughts however, were as blank as her memory of what she had done since returning home. "Ready to start your journey?"

"Of course!" he answered, grinning widely. "I'll be the best there ever was."

 **-O-O-O-**

Nothing had changed on the monitors. Ash sighed and rubbed his fingers in circles behind Pikachu's ears. He had hoped that something would have happened. The pale pink walls of the emergency room were the colour of the chansey that routinely waddled in to check up on his pokémon.

"I guess hearing about my mom wasn't enough, huh?" Ash placed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out the bright red pokédex he had received that very morning. "I guess I can always tell you about someone else. Well, two people, really. One of them is the reason I wanted to become a pokémon trainer. The other introduced me to you. I guess you never really got to know the professor. He's pretty awesome. His grandson is a butt. Gary's always been a jerk. You should definitely know more about him. We'll be seeing him a lot when we journey, I bet."

 **-O-O-O-**

Samuel Oak had waited for a certain day for over sixty years.

To say he was feeling anxious was an understatement. He could feel his jaw trembling with each inhale. Even seeing her the night before, letting him distract him with her body and mind was unable to leave him feeling at peace. Much as he may have wanted to, he found himself unable to pretend that his anxiousness stemmed from his grandson coming to collect a pokémon. Though Gary technically owned a pokémon already, Samuel was not above giving his grandson preferential treatment - especially when said grandson happened to be embarking on a dangerous journey that may or may not result in a fatal failure.

He had scheduled the starting trainers to arrive in groups of three, on the hour, every hour from dawn til dusk, yet he could still feel his mind wander back to the possibilities of everything that could and might happen.

"Gramps, get your head out of the clouds!"

Said grandson also inherited his mother's tact; that of a gyarados. Samuel's sigh was the familiar, long-suffering sound of a parent wondering what went wrong along the way.

"Gimme my squirtle already! None of your other chumps this week are going to cut it as trainers anyway."  
 _  
"Garrett."_ His tone was harsh enough to make his grandson quiet, for once. "Confidence bears arrogance dear boy."

"Come on, Gramps," he said with a snort, flicking his hand through his styled hair in a way that made Samuel's past combine with his present. Gary never got to know him, not truly, yet his mannerisms always left Samuel comparing father to son. Their resemblances ran from the brown hues of their hair and eyes, down to the arrogant, almost caustic confident streak.

"I know you're sad to see me go and everything but time is for the young!" He had the audacity grin. "Don't you think? Isn't it about time I get out there and show the world what my team and I are capable of?"

"Gary," Samuel said, his tone a sigh, "you already have an eevee."

"And you promised me a squirtle," Gary retorted, his voice full of fire. "You already gave Holly the bulbasaur and Ritchie the charmander. I know you breed the pokémon yourself so you've got more of both of them, but we both know I want the squirtle."

As he stood, Samuel felt the slightest twinge of embarrassment for the state of his office. Belatedly, he realised that he started the conversation all wrong. It should have been in their home, in familiar territory for the both of them. Daisy could have even been there to play peacekeeper, but _no_ , he had to fall asleep in his office after Delia left. If Daisy had forgotten to swing by that morning and wake him, he may have even slept through the morning's starting trainers.

Being at home would have also meant he could have woken in a bed, rather than getting a crick in his neck after sleeping in his office chair. They had agreed, when everything started, that visiting each other's homes would have been detrimental for the children. Samuel's grandchildren - Daisy, especially - most likely preferred to think of him as too old to have such urges, whilst the matter of Ash's missing father was an unspoken sore subject with Delia. Though he did not know if their relationship was casual or had meaning to it, he knew not to press the issue. If he was honest with himself, he enjoyed having someone around who looked at him in a different light. His age may have been slowly getting the better of him; he found it harder to remember certain things, moving in the morning was often difficult and he occasionally needed medical assistance to enjoy times with her, yet none of it ever seemed to concern her. She embraced him for who he was, whirlwind as their romance may have been.

Swigging the remains of cold coffee from the cup on his desk, Samuel forced his mind back to the present. It had been several weeks since he cleaned his office - the night before's activities had not helped matters either. His once empty desk was covered quickly in papers that had been swept to the floor in the heat of the moment. The bookshelves that lined the walls were empty, instead the books laid open on the floor, with Samuel's own notebooks sprawled over them. The double windows were both open, letting a soft breeze caress the office with the smell of freshly cut grass, though the window ledge had become his own personal dumping ground for styrofoam cups of coffee.

"Gary," Samuel said as he guided him towards the red armchair reserved for guests. "I brought you here because I wanted to talk to you. Assigning starter pokémon in my lab's reception is a cold, informal process. I don't want you to start your journey like that. I…" For all his years crafting papers and writing haiku, he had never struggled with words so much until then. "I made mistakes with your father. I threw myself into my work when he was younger, always thinking that my work would change the world, that he would see when he grew up. When he grew older, I told myself that we still had all the time in the world, that I could talk to him as an adult and show him the world I hid from him when he was younger. I always thought we would have more time…"

The feeling of grief never left, merely remained buried beneath the distractions he made certain to keep himself occupied. He swallowed the lump in his chest and ignoring the quiver in his voice, said, "I wanted you to know that no matter what you do; whether you win or lose, fail or succeed, you are always welcome back home. I know I'm not the best role model sometimes but believe me when I give you any advice to do with your journey." Before Gary could think of an answer to that, he quickly continued, "I know you are aware of the challenges you will face - or rather, you think that you're aware." He leant against the edge of his desk, folded his arms and made certain to look at him directly in the eyes. "You are not prepared for what is to come." He made certain to level Gary with the most serious expression he could muster, holding the stare until he saw the realisation spark beneath his grandson's hubris. "There is not a book you could read, a game you could play or a school that you can attend that will prepare you for this new stage in life. That said, the task before you is not impossible." He turned and removed the second to last pokédex from his desk, rescuing it from a pile of research papers that had yet to be read through.

"This is a sign of your status as a pokémon trainer." The way Gary's eyes grew wide at the sight of the pocket-sized red machine was identical to every over trainer that Samuel provided a pokédex to. Seeing the wonder in their eyes never grew old.

"This is a testament to my confidence in your abilities to prevail as a trainer. The paths before you will be hard. They will be full of trials, of hardship and most important of all; they will be filled with adventure.

"Remember that should you ever need help or advice, you need only ever ask. Your pokédex will help to guide you on your travels, but what you do from here is up to you. Your path is your own, your destiny is in your own hands. Now," he said, placing the pokédex back on the desk, "we get to the matter of your starter pokémon."

"Finally," Gary breathed.

Samuel activated the storage system on his computer. A flash of light later and the teleportation system deposited a standard red and white poké ball on the middle of his desk. Samuel picked it up delicately and handed it to his grandson. "Your squirtle, as promised. I know you've had your heart set on one for years. This one is bred from my own champion blastoise. Treat him well."

For all his faults, his attitude to pokémon had never been one of them. Gary held the poké ball in his hands with such reverence that Samuel knew it was the right decision.

"One last thing," Samuel said, drawing his attention back. "In addition to the other trainers today, there is another one due to come in to collect his starter pokemon. I know that you and Holly have known each other since you were in diapers, but do make an effort with all three of your rivals. It's not often that so many of you will start on the same day."

"Gramps, I'm not going to make an effort with him just because you're banging his mom."

Samuel wasn't certain what to do first; deny all knowledge of it or backhand Gary with the heaviest folder he could find.

Try as he might, Samuel could never remain angry with him for more than a moment. "Please refrain from using such vulgar attitude."

"Will do Gramps," he said, grinning toothily. He looked down at the ball in his hands before he shrunk it and places it in his pocket. A silence descended over them both, leaving them staring at the worn, beige office carpet. They always knew this day was only ever a matter of time.

"Grandpa?" Gary whispered, his voice unusually timid.

"Yes Gary?"

The speed at which Gary stood and threw his arms around Samuel took him aback. "I love you. I know I don't say it enough, Gramps, but it's true. I'll make you proud, I'll swear."

Samuel told himself that he could blame allergies on the way his eyes filled with water. "You already have, my boy."

Gary flashed him a heartfelt smile, then in the blink of an eye he withdrew putting space between them as his cocky nature returned, burying the emotional side of him beneath the arrogant facade. "Well Gramps, I better hit the road before the other losers bore all the good pokémon to death. Smell ya later."

Samuel allowed himself only a small chuckle. Any more than that and he was afraid he may have burst into tears. "Take care, Gary."

A smile, a close of the door and just like that, his grandson was gone and experiencing the world, his return a question of if rather than when. He would have been lying if he said he was happy for Gary to leave. So many things could go wrong. He had to force himself not to think of those.

"You promised Celebi you'd keep everything stable," he muttered to himself, wiping his eyes with the heels of his palms. "That was one of the conditions." It was the day he knew would come to pass, after all. He had to move hell and high water just to make certain everything was perfect, all to return a favour that had often felt like a debt.  
 _  
"E-excuse me?"_

The intercom on his laptop buzzed with an unfamiliar, yet somehow recognisable voice. _"Professor Oak? My name's Ash Ketchum. I'm here to collect my starter pokémon."_

 _Ah._ Oak took a deep breath and listened to the way his heart hammered in his chest. _This is where it all begins._

Fifty years of waiting, all to give a certain boy a certain pikachu at the right time and place.

 **-O-O-O-**

Ash watched the steady rise and fall of his pokémon's chest, amazed at the progress he had made in such a short time. With the IV in his arm filling him with healing nutrients, Pikachu's wounds were very slowly closing before Ash's eyes. It was not the first time he had marvelled at the strength of pokémon compared to humans and he knew it would not be the last.

In the back of his mind he imagined Pikachu in the middle of battle, healing wounds instantaneously, dealing out damage faster than the opponents could keep up with.

Ash pressed his fingers against Pikachu's chest and felt the heartbeat racing within. Professor Oak had mentioned once that smaller pokémon had faster heart rates than larger pokémon, and that electrical pokémon had some of the fastest pulses recorded. Ash felt like his heart was racing as fast as Pikachu's as he tried to cope with the fact that his starter was still unconscious.

Ash glanced at the clock, unsurprised to find that he had been in there for half the night already. His stomach, unusually, was not growling for food. Even if it was, Ash was resolute that he would not leave his pokémon until he knew that he would make a full recovery.

"I guess there's one more person I can tell you about," Ash said. He began to gently pull apart Pikachu's fur, where the blood had dried and stuck lumps of it together. It had faded into a mottled brown colour, almost blending in perfectly with the dirt and Pikachu's natural brown markings.

"I don't really know her, not all that well, but she's here in this pokémon centre," Ash said. He continued to work at Pikachu's fur, slowly cleaning it with his nails. "I spoke to her for a little bit. She's a bit angry that I borrowed her bike, but it seems to have cooled down for now. At least I hope so. You were kinda knocked out at the time, so let me tell you about how we met her and what happened before you woke up to all the spearow."

 **-O-O-O-**

 _You promised yourself you wouldn't cry._

It had been so easy to carry out that promise when she was at home. Being surrounded by people at all times, all of them asking how she was… it had been easy to lie, to claim that she was fine.

Now however, without anyone to lie to, she could feel the burgeoning pressure of the truth swelling up inside her, about to explode.

She sniffed, wiped her nose with her arm and tried to distract herself by concentrating on her fishing rod. The river bank was uncomfortable, dried by the beating sun, making her fidget every few moments. Growing up she had been taught that the smell of stale water was a bad thing. In the gym, it had certainly held true. In the real world, she knew that was not always the case, yet still the smell of it danced in her nose, convincing her that something was wrong with the river, that the staleness had to be to blame for the lack of attention her lure had been getting. She knew the best sign for good, clean water was to find quagsire swimming within, though so far as she knew, quagsire were rarely spotted in Kantonese waters. Maybe that fact alone was telling.

She sighed as she stared at the ebb and flow of the water. The rivers around Pallet were not known to contain anything all too interesting in terms of rare pokémon - her brief read up on the area told her that she would be lucky to catch anything. If she was exceptionally lucky she would be able to catch a slowpoke, though she knew she had enough problems without adding a notoriously dimwitted pokémon into the mix.

She ran a hand along the poké balls on her belt, able to feel her loneliness increase tenfold as she did so. Three months that practically vanished in the blink of an eye and suddenly five pokémon were the only things in the world that she truly had left.

Her ears pricked, hearing movement in the grass near her camp. Glancing backwards, she grasped one of her poké balls, ready for whatever challenge that came her way. Feeling her heart racing, she saw a familiar mop of spiked, brown hair moving around her bright red tent. His cocky swagger when he walked extended even up to the tips of his hair. She smiled to herself, placed the poké ball on her belt and secured her fishing rod.

 _Five pokémon and this jackass are all I have left,_ she corrected herself.

He looked straight at her when he emerged from behind her tent, grinning widely. His clothes were covered in mud, there was a leaf stuck in the zipper of his bag and though she could not say for certain, what appeared to be a pidgey's beak mark was turning into a bruise on his forehead. Despite his dishevelled state, he smirked at her in a manner that only he could, somehow owning the dishevelled appearance.

"Sup, Tomboy?"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Hairspray?"

He broke first, snorting and laughing as he hugged her the moment she stood. "I'm glad you could make it," he confessed, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Well it's not everyday one of your best friends starts their pokémon journey." She matched his grin, in good enough spirits to ignore the fact that he had grown to be the same height as her. Giving him a once-over glance, she noticed that he already had three poké balls on his belt. One would have definitely been his eevee - she was certain that the ball of fur had never left Gary's side since they met - so the others had to be the squirtle he had dreamt of for years and whatever pokémon he had caught already.

"Champion in the making," he said. As he let go of her, she could feel the way the air changed between them. "You okay?" he asked, his voice quiet, conspiratorial.

She wanted to lie, to continue the pretence.

"Hardly," she answered truthfully, sitting back down on the warm, hard grass bank. She waited until he sat down beside her before she groaned and leaned her head on his shoulder. "This is tougher than I thought it was going to be, Gary."

"Do you know…" he trailed off, as if reconsidering his question. That only served to make her worry more. One of the many things they shared was their blunt nature. It always made talking to him refreshing, far more so than entertaining the League's sycophants, who would bury layers of conversation beneath a single raised brow. "Did they at least tell you what's happening with the gym?"

"Hell if I know," she snarled. "My sisters have gone to Hoenn. They think there might be something there, some sort of clue as to what happened to the boat." She grabbed his arm and squeezed it, using his as a tether against the storm that was her raging thoughts. "I'm scared," she admitted. "Will and Karen came in so quickly and had everything sorted so neatly that they _must_ have had everything planned."

"Misty…" he whispered.

"Don't," she said quickly, dropping his arm. "Don't say anything that will make this situation worse and don't say anything to try and make me feel better." She sat up and moved away, removing him from her personal space. "Why did you ask me to meet you here, Gary? Did you want me to travel with you?"

"Hardly," he answered quickly, snorting a laugh. "I wanted to see you. To see how you're doing with my own eyes." He moved his gaze from her to the shining sun. "More than that.. I wanted to talk. We've known each other since we were in diapers, Mist."

"Since _you_ were in diapers," she corrected. "I was potty-trained by that point."

"Still didn't stop you from being a crybaby," he retorted, grinning as she snarled at him. "But seriously, Gramps doesn't even know what's going on with your gym. I know since Daisy and I moved to Pallet we haven't been able to talk to each other as much, but I was there that day too."

"I know," she said, perhaps too harshly. She flinched at her own tone and looked away quickly. Whenever she tried to sleep, the memories of that day would blossom in her mind again, playing over and over in full detail. She had lost count of the ways that she had tried to forget. Years later, she still found herself imagining the distant roaring of gyarados whenever it got too quiet.

"I don't think it was an accident, Mist."

She closed her eyes and let out a breath that she was unaware she had held. "I've thought the same for a while now," she admitted. It felt almost like a weight being lifted from her shoulders. She felt able to sit a bit taller, that she no longer had to hide the thoughts that had occupied the darker parts of her mind. "Everything with the gym happened too quickly. I know we'd been failing targets for a while, but three months to fire us and get in someone new?" She shook her head. "That's too fast. I didn't notice anything else going on after the boat trip, but from what my Daisy has let slip, they seemed a little too prepared for the chaos."

"I thought as much," Gary whispered, hugging his knees. "Gramps never really talks about it, but I know after everything happened there was some research that he was working on that he suddenly no longer had any interest in." When he sighed, Misty could see the way that he tensed, like a predator waiting to strike. "I want answers, Mist. We deserve answers. I'll become the Champion - you can take a spot in the Elites and we can change the system and get the answers we want."

She bit her bottom lip, thinking of the work that would entail. "That'll take years, Gary."

"I don't _care_ how long it takes!" he snarled, punching the floor. "I don't care if it takes me until I'm twenty, thirty or older to get the answers we deserve! My parents died that day - yours did too! My grandma had a heart attack from the stress of it and died a few weeks later! They _ripped apart_ my family! They _ruined_ my life, Daisy's life, Grandpa's and destroyed your family's _legacy_!"  
 _  
Everything he says is right,_ she reflected. Hugging her knees, she watched him rant, the way his face turned a darker and darker shade of red. _Something still doesn't feel right though. It's like we're looking at a puzzle and only have the corner pieces._

She looked away, staring up at the sky. Moments before it had been a blissful early summer's day. Instead dark grey storm clouds had crept up on them, darkening the sky much like their conversation has soured her mood.

"I'm with you Gary, don't worry," she told him. "Now," she said, injecting what she felt like was far too much false cheer into her voice, "do you want to show me your new squirtle? Don't even try to tell me you didn't get that off your grandpa, I know you've had your heart set on one since you saw Lily's wartortle years ago."

"Jeez, make me sound predictable why don't you?" he said, rolling his eyes. "Though if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not, as least not quite yet." He shrugged as he plucked what she assumed to be his squirtle's poké ball from his belt and rolled it in his palms. "I want to get to know him first, before I have someone tell me what he's like. If you told me that he wasn't the greatest, or that he had something wrong with him, or even if he was amazing, it'd influence my thinking about him. Even if I end up with the gimpiest pokémon, I'd rather make my own decisions."

"That's surprisingly mature of you."

He laughed, the tips of his ears turning red as he replaced the poké ball. "Hey, just because I'm ten on the outside doesn't mean I don't have the brain of a much older genius."

"I'm sure you do," she said, laughing with him. A _crack_ of thunder drew her attention skyward. She frowned, thinking over what to do. Viridian was too far away to make by walking - even the thought of cycling ahead and leaving Gary out in the rain made her feel bad. "Are you staying?" she asked. "Waiting out the storm might be the better thing to do."

"Nah," he said, standing. "Gary Oak isn't afraid of a little bit of rain! Besides," he said, sliding his hands into his pockets, "I want to get my pokémon used to battling in any weather conditions. I've got ideas about what to do, where to go from here."

She stood and hugged him. "Alright, don't be a stranger."

"Take your own advice," he retorted, returning the hug. "Oh, before I forget!" He pulled away, eyes lit up with a familiar look - Misty had seen it many times before when he was plotting something. "Gramps said Cousin Samson is meant to be visiting in a few weeks. Apparently his research on the divergent evolution in Alola is making waves, so he's coming here to get some samples or something. Apparently despite everything, there's no alternate forms for water pokémon we see in Kanto, so he's come to study some of them. I told him that if he wanted an expert opinion, I knew a certain water trainer who would be happy to help, maybe even trade him a native Kanto water pokémon for something from Alola."

"Gary!" she admonished, feeling equal parts humbled and horrified. "I… I don't even know where to begin with that! I'm not trading away any of my pokémon!"

"You don't have to," he said with a shrug, placing his hands back into his pockets. "Catch something new, train it a little, make sure it's docile and let him have that. Maybe something you wouldn't be able to use much over here - there's plenty of ocean over there for aquatic pokémon to play around in."

She sighed, knowing there was no winning the conversation. He meant well, she could see that. She just wished he would ask her first, before promising such things. "Thank you, Gary. I'll keep it in mind. Say thanks to your cousin from me too."

"Don't worry about that. Sides, next time we see each other, we'll battle and I'll show you the power of my new squirtle."

"You better take good care of him," she threatened, though she knew he was aware that she was only half-serious. "If I'm going to be a water-focused Elite, I won't have you looking after any water pokémon badly."

"Fat chance of that. Give it a year, I'll be schooling you in everything you think you know."

His cockiness should have offended her. Instead it just brought a smile to her face. "We'll see about that."

Another _boom_ of thunder roared above them. Misty flinched at how close it sounded. "Sure you don't want to wait out the storm?"

"Quit your worrying. I'll see you soon - maybe I'll meet up with ya in Pewter or Cerulean… if you can keep up."

She rolled her eyes at his antics. With a grin and a flip of his hair he disappeared back into the wilds, though she heard the distinct sound of a poké ball opening and the familiar cry of his eevee as he left.

"Never change, Gary," she whispered. Another peal of thunder echoed and the rain began. It started only as a trickle, like a hint of things to come. She sighed, checking her fishing rod once more. Despite the rain not bothering her, she had no desire to catch a cold. Different pokémon would emerge during the rainstorm, but that did not mean she wanted to sit outside in it.

She crawled into her tent and sealed the flap shut behind her. The pattering of the rain against the fabric above her was almost enough to lull her to sleep, yet she knew the moment she tried, it would elude her.  
 _  
It wasn't an accident._

Deep down, she always knew. _But if Gary's certain of it too…_

Another _crack_ of thunder exploded above. She rolled her poké balls in her palms and tried to think. The best way would be to do a gym challenge, to collect all the badges and prove herself that way. Yet, how many of those same gym leaders had already allied against her? Kanto's gym leaders tended to have no interest in matters outside of their districts, and the thought of going against someone like Sabrina made Misty's hair stand on end.  
 _  
Maybe -_

A scream.

Her back straightened. Her body became more alert in an instant. She listened, could only hear rain. Maybe she imagined it. Maybe it was all just a trick of the storm -

Another scream.  
 _  
I didn't imagine that._

She grabbed all of her poké balls and bolted out of the tent. The storm had picked up in strength. The wind howled and whipped at her, pushing her back towards her tent. The rain felt like tiny needles on her skin. Her sleeveless vest and shorts had been perfect for the blazing hot weather. She grit her teeth as she unchained her bike and hopped on, pedalling against the storm, towards where she was certain the sound had come from.

The sky was dark, almost pitch black. The clouds moved as a formless mass of shadow, eclipsing the sun from the world.

Yet she could still see the spearow circling.  
 _  
Not good._

She pedalled faster, ignoring the splashes of mud against her skin. Though they were not as dangerous as mandibuzz or vullaby, a flock of spearow was never a good thing. Gary started his journey today - Misty knew that meant other new trainers would be starting from Pallet too. Whatever they had chosen would not be enough to help stop a whole flock of spearow - assuming no fearow join the mix. Worst case scenario, whoever caught their attention chose a bulbasaur.

She stopped at the top of a hill, catching her breath. Someone stood on the ground, in the eye of the spearow storm, their arms outstretched, facing the onslaught. Behind the person she could see a small, shaking, _yellow_ , pokémon.  
 _  
That's not a normal starter._

She pushed the thought out of her mind as she selected the pokémon she knew would work best. She was just about to call her starmie forth when suddenly, the yellow pokémon moved. It leaped on the person, bounced off of them into sky and impossibly, channeled the lightning that arced towards it, redirecting it at the spearow.

She flinched, having to cover her eyes from the blast. The resulting shockwave knocked her back a step. The spearow screamed in agony. Misty was certain she could smell them cooking.

When she opened her eyes, half of the flock had fallen from the sky. She paid them no mind - the person was on the ground, their pokémon beside them.

"Hey!" she screamed, rushing towards them. She leaped off her bike, leaving it on the scorched earth beside the boy. She told herself he was just stunned from the lightning. "Are you okay?"

He groaned. Alive. The pokémon beside him had laboured breaths. A pikachu - not something she could say people often started out with.

"Hey," Misty said, touching the boy's shoulder. His eyes were scrunched shut. The electric blast must have caught him - she could see tell-tale lightning strike marks beneath his eyes. The veins had burnt black, leaving marks that resembled lightning bolts. His jet black hair was plastered to his face by the rain and his breathing sounded wet, strained.

"What happened?" he asked, groaning with the effort. He blinked rapidly and suddenly, the drowsiness vanished as he leaped to his feet with a cry of, "Pikachu!"

Misty fell backwards, landing on her rear, shocked by the sight before her. He should _not_ have been alive - much less speaking or on his feet. As he scooped the pokémon up in his arms, she found words incredibly difficult to manage.

"I need to get to a pokémon centre!" the boy declared. A slow, dawning horror crept up on Misty, forcing movement into her leaden limbs. "I'm borrowing this!" the boy shouted, taking her bike.

" _Hey_!" Misty cried, leaping to her feet. He had already jumped on her bike, pedalling away. "That's my bike!"

"I'll meet you in Viridian City!" he cried over his shoulder.

Misty felt like actually crying. There was no guarantee he would even make it there, let alone if she would even find him again.

"I hate everything," she declared, beginning the walk back to her camp. "This is what you get for trying to help people, Mist. You're not a gym leader anymore, you don't have to help people. But _no_ , you see the boy struck by lightning and he _steals your bike_!"

She cursed the rain as it continued to beat down on her. Hugging her arms, she felt her jaw begin to shake as the wind brushed against her, chilling her wet skin. She hurried back to her camp, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. She had no pokémon that would be able to help warm her up, either. The promise of her dry, warm clothes in her sleeping bag kept her feet moving. She focused entirely on keeping moving, so much so that she failed to notice the smoke coming from her campfire until she was stood back in her camp, staring in horror at the man that sat before the fire.

He had long, dyed purple hair that ran to his shoulders and rather than acknowledging her, continued to hold out his hands to the fire. He wore a suit that matched his hair and that impossibly, seemed to be ignoring the downpour that the heavens were unleashing on them. His eyes, when he turned his gaze towards her, were whited out, though the black framed mask he wore around them gave the illusion that it was merely part of the costume.

Behind him, a large, green feathered bird stood silently, taller than her. Its wings were easily twice the size of her, decorated with feathers in shades of red and white. Like its trainer, both of its eyes were white, blind. It gave no indication that it was aware Misty had arrived, nor did it even seem to have a rise and fall of its chest, like it did not even need to breathe.

" _Will_ ," Misty hissed, jumping back a step, moving to a stance where she could hit him or run at a moment's notice. A second later and her brain kicked into gear. She called out two of her pokémon and buried herself between them. The cool, purple skin of her starmie was a harsh contrast to the tough, red carapace of her crawdaunt.

"Misty," Will greeted, his tone flat. His voice was accentless, as if he did not belong anywhere. "A dark type. Truly? If I wanted to harm you, I would have already done so."

"That's what people say just before they harm you anyway," Misty shot back. She hated her body for the way it shook in the cold. The fire, so delightfully warm, was somehow sheltered from the downpour around them. "What do you want?"

"So cold, so caustic," Will chided. "Come, sit by your fire. It would do neither of us any good for you to die of hypothermia out here."

Much as she way have wanted to put as much distance between them as possible, she could not deny the warmth of the fire was an enticing offer. Keeping her hands on her pokémon, she stood on the other side of the fire to him, close enough to enjoy the shelter it somehow had from the rain, yet far enough from Will that he could not reach out and touch her.

"There, I'm by the fire and warming myself. Now want do you want?"

"To talk," he said innocuously. "Though I am blind-"

"If you start your 'I'm blind but I see more than anyone else', I'm going to shove my foot down your throat," Misty growled. "I'm not someone who's never been near a pokémon in their life. I'm not someone who doesn't know what's really going on. I'm fully aware that you're psychic, so can we cut the crap already?"

The way that Will smiled reminded Misty very much of a meowth taunting its cornered prey. "You wish to prove yourself, to let the world see you as an Elite. Travelling to gyms and earning trinkets will not give you the right to be one of us." His eyes seemed to glow. Misty's crawdaunt grunted, turning to her, its eyes covered in a white haze.

"Ren!" she cried, throwing her arms out to her pokémon. It batted her aside, knocking her to the floor. She cried out, hitting the ground and looked up in time to see her crawdaunt smash its pincers into her starmie, cracking the gemstone. Screaming, Misty recalled them both, turning to Will with her eyes wide, her body shaking.

"Sad really," Will commented, as if bored, "you never felt truly loved by your sisters, so you name your pokémon after flowers to continue the theme. Ren, Jasmine, Acacia, Quill, Willow. You seek family in pokémon because you feel abandoned by your own."

"Yeah well what's your point?" Misty growled, standing, ignoring the tears building in her eyes. She stood back, drenched in the continual downpour. Her hands formed into fists as she hissed, "I know you're psychic - you knowing my pokémon's names doesn't freak me out. If you're trying to scare me you'll have to do harder than that!"

"Your crawdaunt cannot defend itself from me - a human. You cannot expect to reach Elite levels if your pokémon are so weak."

"Fuck you, you purple haired prick," Misty snarled. "What the hell is your goal here? To beat up a child? Congratulations, you asshole. I'm not stupid - I know that you and your sister already made certain that my gym was taken from me - was that not enough?"

"No."

The simple answer, comprised of only a single word, nearly floored her with how matter-of-fact Will delivered it.

"I… what?" she whispered.

"I am not content with the events that have transpired so far," Will said, standing. Misty took a step back, able to feel the power flowing off him in waves. It set aflame her instincts to run and hide. "My xatu sees the paths each and every action takes. People describe them as being able to see past and future, yet that is such a minute grasp of their power. Xatu can see into the past and determine every action that will arise from a single decision in a single moment in time." As he stepped towards her, Misty saw the pebbles on the ground raise up around his feet. His eyes seemed to glow, leaking white light. The rain evaporated the moment it touched his body. "You are _weak_."

His eyes flashed. Misty felt the ground move away from her feet. Her limbs locked, refused to move. She felt an invisible hand grasp her throat, began to choke the air out of her. She realised she was being lifted into the air, pulled by an unseen force. Her tears would not budge. Her lungs burnt as she struggled to breathe.

"As you are, you are nothing," he continued, walking towards her. His tone never changed, his voice never raised. He stated everything as if it were fact, like he was describing the weather. "My xatu sees the paths that no other can. I see everything." He stood before Misty, power flowing from him in waves that pushed away the storm. The river water vibrated at his presence. Misty felt the air heat around him. The invisible noose on her neck tightened.

He reached out and pressed a hand against her cheek. "I choose you, Misty Williams. You will be my protégé. You, who would help change the world. With my guidance, you will change it for the better. You will help us prosper."

"N-never," Misty gasped. "Just k-kill me and get it done with."

"No."

The air changed. Misty dropped to the floor, landing on her knees. She felt the skin tear on the rocks and hissed, able to breathe again. She looked up at Will fearfully, her hands around her neck, tears in her eyes. "Why?" she asked, her voice the barest of whispers.

"I have seen it," he answered, turning from her. "Struggle builds strength. Hardship builds character. When you are strong enough I will return, and you and I will change the world."

Misty grit her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet, standing on shaking legs. "You'll regret that," she promised. "I'll end you myself."

"No," he said, glancing at her, "you won't."

She blinked and he vanished, disappearing into the air. Thunder roared from above and the deluge continued, hitting her full force. Her campfire, once protected from the rain, instead hissed and died in moments. Misty sobbed as she hugged herself, stood under the rainfall, unable to find the energy to move.  
 _  
You promised yourself you wouldn't cry._

She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the heels of her palms and growled at the empty air. "Fuck you, Will," she snarled, uncertain if he could even hear her. "I will become an Elite. Gary and I will take down the system and I'll make you regret ever crossing me."

 **-O-O-O-**

Pikachu had opened his eyes.

It was only for a moment - a second, really, but it meant that he was recovering!

"I knew you would pull through!" Ash declared, unable to wipe the smile off his face. "I knew that this wouldn't be the last thing we ever did together. Just you wait Pikachu, you and I are going to take on the world together!"

He glanced out of the emergency room doors, where he could see two wanted posters hanging side by side. They looked dated, as if they were printed years ago, though the faces were almost perfect in their quality. A man and a woman, the latter of whom had long hair curled around like a coiled snake, the former of whom had a rose stem in his mouth, for whatever reason.

"We'll make this world a better place," Ash said, turning back to Pikachu. "And the best way for us to do that is to take down people like that. That way, no one innocent ever gets hurt."

 **-O-O-O-**

 _'Sceptile, unlike its predecessor groyvle, is a lone hunter, able to take down prey much larger than itself. An omnivore, sceptile breeds can survive on a vegetarian diet for a small amount of time, though it is recommended trained sceptile are fed meat at least once a week, as there have been numerous cases where sceptile forced into vegetarian only diets have rebelled, leaving their trainers, or worse._

 _'The best way to train one of these creatures is by beginning with a treecko, which can be found-'_

"Here's the money. Now remember, we want this to look as real as possible. Clear out the centre; make sure no one else is here. We'll handle the rest."

He looked up from the textbook abruptly and smiled as he saw the money changing hands. Though she may have claimed not to care about anyone other than herself, those lumbered with endless amounts of student debt always seem to exploit her weak points. Being certain to wipe the smile from his face before she saw it, he turned back to the book, picking up where he left off seamlessly.

"Everything's a-okay on my end."

James sighed and folded the book closed, placing it on the seat beside him. As he looked over at his other companion, the light shone in such a way that it caught the metal implants that were yet to be covered by the re-growing fur. His father used to tell him that he was heartless, back when they used to speak with one another. He wondered if it was true and he was proving him wrong, or like so many other things, Father was wrong and had assumed the truth based on a small dataset.

"What about Jessie? She done yet, Jimbo?"

James sighed and leaned his head against the cool, tiled wall behind him. With his eyes closed, he let himself pretend that he was elsewhere, not left to deal with this… _field project._

"She was paying off the nurse when I saw her last." He opened his eyes and frowned as a strand of hair fell into his face. The blue was fading once again, revealing the bleach beneath. He would have to dye it again soon, though as he reached up to rub a strand of hair between his fingers, he noticed how quickly it was growing similar to straw. "I'm still amazed we even have anyone to follow. That lightning strike would have killed anyone else."

"Yeah," Meowth said, quietly, "they're good at what they do."

Though able to speak the human tongue, Meowth still struggled with pronunciation. 'They' came out as _'dey'_ and any word that ended in an 'o' was pronounced as if he were meowing. No one had ever shortened his name to Jim before, which made hearing _'Jimbeow'_ more of an oddity to grow used to.

James nodded. "They are," he agreed, his mind taking him to places he would rather avoid. An uncomfortable silence fell between them. What could have been and what is flashed through James' mind. All that education, all the money his parents spent on it and what had it gained him? As Jessie walked back into the room, James looked up, still considering the answers to his question.

Her blue eyes always seemed to be scanning the shadowed corners of each location, looking for things that may be hiding in the dark. Her violently red hair was tied in a long ponytail that ran down between her shoulders. The black shirt she wore seemed to be skin tight, though James knew it was made from the finest shelgonscale available for purchase.

She touched the knife on her belt, as if to remind herself that yes, it was still there. "We've got twenty minutes," she said. "That kid's nothing more than a little twerp, so we can't overdo this." She pulled off a black glove to reveal five miniaturised poké balls strapped to her hand. With a sigh she pulled her glove back on, flexing her fingers into a fist. "I don't have anything weak enough. Meowth." At the sound of her voice, the pokémon seemed to stand just a little straighter. "Any ideas? We all know you're not a battler."

"I got smarts instead of battle skills," Meowth said with a roll of his eyes. The action sent a shudder down James' spine. Everything he knew about feline biology told him that they are not capable of such an action. "We can just grab two poké balls from the healed section and use them. Create enough of a panic and they should follow your lead." He extended his claws and examined them, much like a person would scrutinise their fingernails. "We just wanna gauge what's happening with him right now, right? What'dya think, Jimbo? You're the one in charge of this little op here."  
 _  
Am I really?_ The claim of leadership seemed false. The project was certainly under his oversight, but he was beginning to feel less like a leader and more like a buffoon. Jessie had been assigned as his bodyguard and James knew that she could snap a man's neck without batting an eyelid. Their pokémon companion had more intelligence than he rightly should. Whilst James knew he was certainly no slouch in any department, the idea of leading felt… _wrong._

He glanced around the doorframe and found the boy in the emergency room, his pokémon still hooked up to the monitors. James was amazed that either of them were still breathing. Pikachu were never known for their durability and humans were… well, only human.

James raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jessie. She mirrored his reaction. They watched as the nurse they paid walked into the room and began checking on his pikachu. Her wig, bright pink and curled, is a perfect fit, just like they planned.

"We need to assess his strength," James whispered, aware he was paraphrasing Meowth. "The best way would be to engage him in a battle, but we need to make certain we set things up so that he won't try to run."

"That's simple," Meowth said, drawing their attention. "First, we trip the power in the lobby. Tripping the emergency room power means other pokémon might end up dying or worse. So we bait him to the lobby first. Whilst the lights are out, we grab two pokémon from here to use against him. Then we flick the lights back on, appear in the lobby in front of him and announce ourselves as pokémon thieves, here to steal everything in the centre." He looks up at Jessie. "You paid that police lady friend of yours to hang up those posters, right?"

"I did," Jessie confirmed. James followed her gaze down the pink-walled corridor, where he could see the rushed posters hung directly opposite the boy.

"Only one step left then," Meowth said, grinning. He reached into a disposable plastic bag next to James' foot and pulled free two large, red 'R's and two white shirts. "The back of these are covered in double-sided tape. Attach these letters to these shirts and we'll sell the illusion."

"Right," James said, following Meowth's instructions. "What illusion are we trying to sell anyway?"

"Simple really," Meowth said, a twinkle in his eye. "It's a way for the twerp to identify us easily. He needs to know who Team Rocket really are."

"Meowth," Jessie said, holding the shirt out at arm's length, "you do realise the point of our operation is to be covert? There's a reason people don't know about us. We don't even know who runs the organisation."

"Of course," Meowth said, smiling, "but only the twerp is here - our cover is safe. No one is going to believe a ten year old kid that thinks Team Rocket attacked him. If anything people will think people are using the rumours to attack without consequence. You two have got your missions, I have mine.

"Now come on, let's get to work."


	2. Rivals - I

_**Author's Note;**_

 _As mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is currently being rewritten as I wrote myself into something of a hole before. Though I can only apologise to people that were following this beforehand, I'm not scrapping the story that you're familiar with. I've built on areas that were lacking, added new plot threads and generally made it more show and less tell. For example, some arcs now have extra chapters, some scenes have been moved around, and there are new scenes in old chapters._

 _But I'll stop talking about it and let you experience it for yourselves. As always, feedback is a staple part of a writer's diet. Please don't let me starve!_

* * *

Once upon a time, Wallace had been raised on stories of nightmarish pokémon that lived in the bowels of earth, torturing and consuming those that dared to enter their territory. Once Wallace had believed the stories to be nothing more than campfire tales designed to scare young trainers.

It took until he was fifteen to realise how very _wrong_ he was.

Some fifteen years after that first experience found him once more investigating the nightmares his grandparents had told him tales about. His footsteps echoed down the dark tunnels. Echoes of movement travelled up and down, rending his hearing untrustworthy. He held his flashlight in one hand, moving it erratically with every echoed scream or growl. An enlarged poké ball was kept ready in his other hand, waiting for the moment he would need it.

"You're tense. Scared of the dark?"

He surprised even himself by not screaming. However the frantic pattern he drew on the cave walls with his flashlight betrayed him.

"Don't _do_ that!" He thrust the poké ball between them, waving it threateningly. "That could have ended so badly. Do not not hear those things in here with us?" He kept his voice low, partially through fear of the denizens of the dark and partially because he did not trust his voice to hide how scared he felt. "You've heard the rumours. All the spirits of lost trainers never escaped and their souls still wander the caverns down here, searching for a new body from which to seek their revenge on the world that forgot them."

With the soft white glow of his bronzong behind him, Steven's features blurred seamlessly into the dark. To Wallace he seemed like a demon with bright, shining blue eyes.

"You're read too many old wives' tales," Steven said dismissively. Wallace could _hear_ the smirk on Steven's face. "It's probably just some misdreavous causing havoc. Maybe the acid geysers."

Wallace scowled. "You're not helping."

"I know." His playful tone would have been amusing if they were anywhere else. Instead, deep within the tunnels under Mount Silver, Wallace felt like he was on a slow descent to meet the devil. "There has to be something in here. Zinnia's intel is always on the money. The giant would have been here when the shrines on the mountain top were first being laid. He must have left something here. It's always been hidden, but he always left something behind."

Wallace sighed and buried his face in a hand. He wanted nothing more than the comfort of a plush armchair and an extra large vodka. Neither of which seemed like they were going to happen any time soon. "Why is it that _none_ of the locations we've traced him to thus far have been easily accessible?" He placed the poké ball he held back into his jacket pocket and ran his fingers along the moist, mildew-scented wall. Shining his flashlight on them, he frowned at the way his fingertips were stained orange. No matter how much he rubbed them on his hips, they remained marked. "We found nothing in the Terminus cave system back in Kalos," he grumbled. Just mentioning them brought his mind back to the horrors they had witnessed. "Well, nothing good."

Steven's laugh was as empty as the cave tunnels appeared to be. Behind him, his bronzong's eyes were a blinking red miasma that only served to further unsettle Wallace's nerves. "For someone who is sworn to guard the Sky Pillar and the connecting archipelago, you have an interesting concept of _easily accessible_."

"And you have a warped perspective of enjoyable excursions," Wallace spat back. He sighed as he pointed his flashlight towards the gloomy darkness and followed the light. His footfalls began to echo once again, continuing for what felt like an eternity. He could hear Steven keeping pace beside him, humming quietly to himself, clearly full of wonder at their surroundings. More than once he whispered his amazement at a particularly fascinating rock and began to theorise its composition.

Were he somewhere that was not cold, dark and assailing his nose with a constant smell of damp, Wallace too would enjoy getting to uncover the mysteries this place held. He loved diving under the ocean and exploring the remains of ships nestled on the ocean's floor. Unlike Steven - and Cynthia too, who was equally as obsessed as they were, just in another field - Wallace preferred solving ancient mysteries in locations where he could _see the sky_.

"Wait," Steven said suddenly, grabbing Wallace's shoulder. Wallace froze, complying in an instant. Years of travelling together left him with absolute trust in the man. If Steven told him they needed to break into a police station, Wallace would only ask ' _when'_ rather than ' _why_ '.

"Trouble?" he whispered.

"I… I'm not certain." Wallace could _feel_ the grown that grew on Steven's face. His bronzong floated between them, twirling slowly. Even though the pokémon was a beacon of light in the nightmarish darkness, the shadows further in seemed unfazed by the light. If anything, they seemed to grow darker still, almost more _solid_.

"Something feels off down there," Steven said. His bronzong chimed a monotonous agreement. "I think we should withdraw for now."

Wallace saw nothing but darkness beyond. "If you think so, we'll leave."

"We shall," Steven whispered. His bronzong retreated to his side, pulsing with an energy that made Wallace's teeth vibrate. "Your instincts always save us on the ocean. Mine save us underground."

As if in answer, something below _howled_. The cave roof above them _shook_. Stones and dust rained over them. Cold, sweaty fear raced down Wallace's spine. His mouth grew dry in a moment. A perverted sense of _wrong_ made all of his hair stand on end.

"This is _just_ like what happened in the Terminus systems," Wallace grumbled. He tried to feign a sense of calm. Metallic hammering began to echo from below. It sounded like someone taking a sledgehammer to a door, attempting to break through. Each knell made him flinch.

"Reminds me more of when we were trapped in the Sevii Ocean with the very angry hoard of gyarados intent on butchering us."

Another demonic howl echoed, followed by a nightmarish screech. The metallic hammering continued, louder and louder. It seemed as if it were growing closer. A sound like metal scraping made Wallace's back erupt into goosebumps.

He took an involuntary step backwards. Something _crunched_ beneath his boot. He glanced down and felt his stomach turn.

"Well, at least I found the missing scout."

 **-0-0-0-**

"Just because I lost your bike it doesn't mean that you have to follow me around!"

Though he would never admit it, the glare that Misty subjected him to was actually terrifying. It was enough to make him miss his footing and nearly trip over his own feet. Pikachu chittered in his ear, complaining about the unbalanced ride. Misty crossed her arms and _huffed_ at him, even as she continued walking after him.

"You're such an idiot, Ash Ketchum," she said. The words actually _hurt_. What right did she have to say such a thing? Sure he had taken her bike, but it had been to rush Pikachu to the Pokémon Centre. Of course, _maybe_ having Pikachu blow up the generator to try and stop the thieves from stealing all of the pokémon inside made him come off in a bad light, but still, at least he did something!

"Not only did you decide to take on a flock of spearow with a pokémon that you'd owned for less than a day, but then you decided to try and fight pokémon thieves with the very same pokémon - one who was _still healing!_ "

Ash stopped walking and spun to face her. The shade of a cherry blossom tree made his neck feel like it was no longer burning. He took a deep breath and reached up to his shoulder to scratch Pikachu's head before answering. His mother had always told him the importance of not saying anything when he was angry, advice that he often struggled to follow. "I couldn't stand back and let them take the pokémon," he said, smiling as Pikachu cooed. "They'd taken Nurse Joy hostage! What would you have done?"

Misty growled as she rolled her eyes at him. Ash wondered if she was part growlithe. People in Viridian _had_ to be able to hear her anger. The pokémon almost definitely could - it had to be the reason why they had seen nothing since leaving the confines of the city. It had seemed like a good idea when Misty had suggested they go out to the mountains west of Viridian and get some training in. He glanced towards the mountain ranges and was certain he could see the hints of _something_ at the mountain's summit. His heart raced just a bit faster in his chest.

The Pokémon League.

One day he would be there, he promised himself. He would take centre stage and show the world his abilities.

"One," Misty counted off, oblivious to his train of thought and drawing his attention back to reality, "that nurse's name wasn't Joy and I have no idea where you got that idea from." She went as far as holding up a finger as she listed her reasons. "Two, your pikachu was still healing. Three, any idiot would have realised that taking on adult, experienced trainers with the one that had barely recovered from _life-threatening_ injuries was a bad idea! Four, they were clearly _going easy on you!_ "

"Well you're just jealous because I'm the one who beat them!"

The way she sighed did nothing to fight back the anger he could feel welling up. Even Pikachu's soft whispers as he stroked Ash's ear did little to help "Ash," Misty said, her voice suddenly soft, "do you even know who Team Rocket are?"

"Of course," he said quickly, "who doesn't?"

Her raised eyebrow made him instantly aware that he had said the wrong thing. "Oh, so you're already familiar with the whispers of a group that so far, have no evidence linking them to actually existing?" Ash swallowed, resigned in the mistake that he had made. "You already knew about the people that the police haven't found any solid proof about? You've already met the people who, by all intents and purposes, seem to be just _horror stories_?"

"No," he admitted, deflating. Pikachu chimed a reassuring noise in his ear. It was strange to think that a few days ago he had received the pokémon and it wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. Since he had recovered, it was almost as if the pokémon had done a complete one-eighty on his previous stance.

"I thought as much," Misty said with a sigh. "Look Ash," she said, her tone softening again. "I'm not saying that you didn't battle anyone. What I'm saying is that I doubt it was _actually_ Team Rocket. And I'm here now, still with you because well, no offence but… you're a bit of an idiot."

The words stung, even the second time around.

"Don't interrupt me," she said quickly, holding up a finger to silence him, before he had even thought of what to say. "Ash, I've seen greenhorn trainers before. I've battled my share and I _was_ one. None of them would have been so stupid to do what you've done. And yet, it was still incredibly brave." Before the praise could cause his ego to swell too much,she shook her head at him and added, "Reckless and idiotic, but brave. When I saw you that day, after your pikachu had attacked the spearow I thought you were dead. You _should_ have been dead. I don't know how you survived."

He pressed his fingers to the lightning bolt scars beneath his eyes. Pikachu brushed his paws through Ash's hair, whispering something akin to an apology. The nurse in the pokémon centre had mentioned as much to him. Truthfully, even he was uncertain as to how he survived. What he failed to understand was _why_ it had to be such a big deal. Pokémon could take more abuse than that and survive, so what made people such a wildly different case?

"Ash, I'm sorry. I know you're still upset that your mom hasn't answered the phone whenever you've called her. I know it's something you're pretending you're okay with. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, really. I just want you to think a little first, so you don't end up dead."

He flinched as he tried to draw his thoughts away from where her words made them travel. His mother had made him promise to call and yet, when he had she was unavailable. Only Professor Oak telling him that she was busy had made him feel any better. He still had no idea how the professor knew so much about his mother's activities, but hearing that she was alright, just busy with work and not in trouble made him feel a little better.

Even so, the stabbing feeling in his heart whenever he thought about it was almost on the verge of causing him physical pain, in addition to the emotional suffering.

"I'm worried if I turned my back on you and left you alone you'd probably end up dead." There was no malice in Misty's words. They were stated like a fact, as if she were commenting on the blue of the sky, or the crispness of the breeze that ruffled their clothes. "If you died, well technically the blood would be on my hands. I'd have seen that you needed help and ignored it. I also want my bike back," she added quickly. "Though since you lost it, I'll just take half the money you make from battles until you've paid me back."

He knew that there should have been more important things to ask, given everything she had just said. Instead he asked, "You make money from pokémon battles?"

He was certain Pikachu buried his face in his hands at the same moment Misty did the same. She sighed as she adjusted the straps on her backpack and pointed towards the gravelled hill behind the cherry blossom they stood under. "There's a pond up there," she said, changing subject. "We'll head there to rest and then we can figure out what we're doing for training."

Ash looked at where she indicated and for the life of him, could not see the pond of which she spoke. "How do you even know what's around here?" He tried standing on his tiptoes. It was just as unsuccessful.

"I've travelled before," Misty said, as if that explained everything. "I caught my poliwag here about a year ago."

"You can catch poliwag here?" He felt the excitement bubble in his stomach. He had _always_ wanted a poliwhirl.

Once again, Misty sighed. "Ash, you have a pokédex. Have you ever thought about using it to see what pokémon live nearby?"

He felt the heat rise in his cheeks. "I didn't know it could do that," he admitted.

He was certain that whatever Misty said under her breath was _not_ nice. She shook her head and with a smile, said, "How about this? Whilst we're travelling together, if you think of anything and want to ask it, even if it's a stupid question, I'll help you. When we get back to the pokémon centre later I'll show you what the pokédex can do and we'll figure out what you really need to know more about, rather than me constantly just being surprised at what you don't."

The way she could make him go from feeling like nothing to feeling important left him more than a little confused. He smiled, deciding not to focus on it and instead chuckled as he said, "Gee, thanks Misty."

Though she said it was nothing, Ash felt otherwise. Rather than questioning it, he focused on climbing up the deceptively steep hill. His legs burnt with every step he took. More than once he thought that his feet would give up beneath him. The trees closed in around them, trapping the heat and the humidity. It began to feel like he was walking through a rainforest. Pidgey chirped in the trees above. Sweat ran down his back, his face and his neck. The brim of his hat was soaked through. He wanted to give up, to let his screaming legs ret. His only saving grace was that it someone had cut steps into the slope of what Ash refused to call a hill any further.

It was by all rights, a miniature mountain. The first seeds of doubt began to take root in his mind, questioning if he'd ever be able to climb to the summit of the Pokémon League.

The weight of Pikachu on his shoulder was beginning to hamper his ability to move, yet it kept him focused at the same time. Misty seemed like the climb was an effortless thing. Ash grit his teeth and forced himself forwards. He refused to let himself be outmatched by her. He was _done_ being a burden that she felt she had to care for.

By the time they reached the pond, Ash wanted to throw himself in it. It was a sight to look at. The water was a clear blue, almost sparkling in the light that made it through the trees. A wooden pier had been built slightly into it, with indents from fishing poles. Honestly, Ash considered it to be more of a lake than a pond.

A goldeen broke the water's surface, leaping into the sky. It landed back with a splash that caused ripples to dance over the water's surface, disturbing a pack of thirty rattata drinking from the water's edge.

What caught Ash's attention the most was the mop of spiky brown hair on the pier. Though he was back to them, Ash was certain he recognised him. His purple top was soaked, visibly stuck to his skin. The colourful orange and pink swimming trunks he wore were equally soaked through. His bare feet were beneath the water, making small movements that disturbed the fishing pole he held onto.

"Gary!" Ash shouted, at almost the exact moment as Misty.

Gary turned his head and grinned at them both. "Hey Mist," he said, rising to his feet. "Fancy seeing you here." He secured his pole in place before approaching them, and to Ash's surprise, they _hugged._ The sense of betrayal felt like a slap in the face. Why had Misty never mentioned that she knew him? He had mentioned Gary what felt like countless times. How could she have ignored the fact she knew his rival?

"It's almost like you knew I was here or something," Gary said, smirking. "I mean, what are the chances of us randomly meeting here otherwise?" Gary let her go and turned to look at Ash, a strange look on his face. "Hey, uh, Ash. Good to see you've made it here too."

It took all of Ash's self control not to shout childishly at them both. It was perfectly possible for Misty not to have mentioned it because she actually _liked_ Gary - and how _anyone_ could manage such a thing was beyond Ash's comprehension. Instead, he took a deep breath and said, "How comes you never mentioned you two know each other?"

Both of them blinked slowly, as if confused. They looked at each other, sharing a look that left Ash wondering if he had asked something stupid. Misty was the first to break, turning to him with a confused expression on her face as she said, "You… never asked? Gary and I have known each other for years but well, you've never mentioned him to me before?"

"I haven't?" Ash felt like something had taken his stomach and flipped it inside his body. Pikachu gave him a curious look, as if confused as to what was happening. Ash was certain he had mentioned something about Gary - he _knew_ that he had told Pikachu about him.

The nurse _had_ mentioned that the lightning strike may have affected his memories slightly, but so far he had been ignoring that as much as possible.

He felt like his brain was wading through tar. "I haven't mentioned him before?" He looked at Pikachu and found no answers there either. "Sorry," he said, biting his bottom lip. For some strange reason, he felt like crying. "I thought I'd mentioned Gary before."

"And who could blame you?" Gary said. He had one hand on his hip as he made a gesture Ash didn't understand with the other. Behind him, in the water, Ash could see something bubbling near Gary's fishing pole. "I'm _amazing_ , after all. Everyone should think and talk about me."

"Jackass," Misty commented. Ash ignored them both as he watched the ripples continue spreading. His heart leapt into his throat when the top of a scaly blue head poked through the water's surface. A _squirtle_ emerged from beneath the water, looked at the fishing pole in such a _disappointed_ way before looking over at them.

"A squirtle!" Ash shouted, barely able to contain his excitement. He was already reaching for a poké ball when suddenly Pikachu bounced down from his shoulder and smacked his hand with his tail. " _Ow,"_ Ash grunted. "You know, you could have just _said_ something."

Pikachu raced back up his arm, smiling as he pulled on Ash's ear and pointed towards Gary, who was watching them in obvious intrigue.

"That would be Donnie," Gary said, sparing them one last unreadable glance before looking back to the water. The squirtle spit several large, iridescent bubbles into the air before dipping back beneath the water's surface. "Before you guys got here we got bored and were playing tug of war with the fishing line."

"Aw," Misty grunted, "I'd have loved to have seen you get your butt kicked by a teeny, tiny, adorable little squirtle."

"Psh," Gary said, waving a hand at her, "you _wish_. Besides, he's having a bit of downtime now. Ritchie's still hanging round Viridian and Holly's already shot off to Pewter, but we had a quick battle before all was said and done."

"You've battled other people already?" Ash whispered. "But… what about us? We said we'd battle when we both had a pokémon, remember?" Growling, he pointed at him. "I challenge you to a battle now, Gary Oak!" Pikachu jumped to the ground, his cheeks sparking as he too shouted his own challenge.

Gary shared a look with Misty that Ash struggled to understand. With a roll of his eyes and shrug of his shoulders, Gary stepped forwards, removing two poké balls from the pocket of his swimming trunks. "Fine," he said with a bored expression. "Two on two?"

At that, Pikachu's sparks appeared to die a little. "Um, I only have Pikachu," Ash admitted.

Gary stared at him, as if waiting for the puncling to a joke. Finally he groaned and shook his head, resting his hand against it. "You're not taking this seriously, Ash. Your pokémon is never going to get stronger if you just let it ride around on your shoulder. It doesn't matter how strong your pokémon are - if you don't have enough to defend yourself, you'll end up injured, or worse-"

" _Expelled,"_ Misty said with snigger.

"Shut up," Gary replied, though he too was laughing. Ash felt even _more_ confused than he did before. "Gramps must have made you listen to his _many_ lectures on that too."

"Possibly," Ash said with a shrug. As much as he tried, he found it impossible to ignore the burning heat rising in his face. "I don't remember, okay?! How many pokémon do you have? Me and Pikachu will beat all of them!"

Gary held up four fingers in answer.

Ash felt his jaw drop open. "How do you even have four pokémon already?"

"Donnie from Gramps, caught Shadow years ago, Talon in Route One and got another from here. Left out getting one from Viridian at the moment, at least until there's a swarm or a migration." He shrugged, as if it were no big deal. Ash felt like he had missed the invitation to a pokémon catching party. Even Pikachu sat back on his hind legs and made a confused sound. "You've read up on the Nuzlocke Regulations, right?" Gary asked.

He _wanted_ to pretend that he knew otherwise. "Nuz- _who-ha_?" he asked.

"Ash," Misty said quietly. Ash got the distinct impression she was about to say something else before she shook her head. "There was an environmentalist over in Unova who was a big advocate of pokémon rights -the media was always saying that he could _speak_ with pokémon. It sounded silly, really, but people flocked behind him. They formed a group called something arduous and complicated-"

"Pokémon League Association for Safe Maintenance of Agriculture," Gary interjected. "Plasma for short."

"Yeah," Misty said. "Anyway, he later found out that some pokémon actually _want_ to battle and grow stronger. He left the organisation and did some research, took it to the Unovan government and they haven't made it a law yet, but it's a recommendation now. All trainers should restrict themselves to only capturing one pokémon per location they visit, so as to not disrupt the local ecosystem."

"That's…" Ash struggled to think of a way to sum up how he felt about it. "But, why? What if all the pokémon _want_ to be trained?"

"Oh, Ash," Misty sighed. "What happens if you catch all the rattata in an area where other pokémon eat them? All the other pokémon either starve, leave or start hunting other pokémon."

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction," Gary said, smirking.

"Smartass," Misty threw back.

"Well where's this Nuzlocke guy now then?" Pikachu, no longer interested in the conversation, walked over to the pier to stare into the water. Ash kept an eye on him as he continued, "If he's so amazingly smart, why isn't he over here making sure we all follow his laws?"

"He changed his name to N and began travelling instead," Gary answered. "Apparently he befriended a pokémon no one had seen for centuries and started travelling with that, but then people were also saying his dad was a villain and tried exploiting his fame." He shrugged. "Don't know for certain but they did think of some good things, so try and take a look at them some time."

Smiling, he tossed one poké ball to his free hand and pocketed it. "So Ash, you wanted a battle? Tell ya what - I'll go easy on you. I just caught this one a day ago; it's still temperamental and kinda wild. If you can beat it, I'll use my strongest pokémon."

"I'll beat all your pokémon, just you watch!" Ash declared. "Pikachu!" At his shout, his pokémon raced back to his side and growled at Gary. "Bring it on!"

Ash felt his pulse throb in his chest as Gary threw a poké ball forwards. The eruption of light left stars dancing in his eyes. When the light cleared, he saw a brown feathered pokémon with two heads. The pokémon squawked, narrowing two sets of eyes on him.

"Wait a sec," Misty said, moving closer to Gary. "Aren't doduo meant to have black necks if they're male and beige if they're female?" She pointed to the doduo. "Why does that one have one of each?"

Blinking, Ash saw for the first time what Misty was talking about. Pointing his pokédex at the pokémon, the information that came up confirmed her suspicions and described Gary's pokémon as a hermaphrodite.

"What's a… herma...pur...ro…"

" _Hermaphrodite_ ," Gary said flawlessly, to Ash's ire. "Basically means it's genetically male and female. Apparently most pokémon like that are sterile and can't evolve either, but I wanted to see what would happen with something like doduo. They're essentially naturally selected conjoined twins anyway, so this one might be the next step in their evolution."

At that, the doduo squawked again and, turning its heads against each other, began to fight with itself.

"Stop that!" Gary barked, slapping his hands together. To Ash's chagrin, the pokémon obeyed instantly, snapping back to alertness. Ash noticed both Misty and Pikachu studying the pokémon the entire time, as if dissecting it in a museum.

"School's on hold until after this battle," Gary said, smirking. "Now come on Ash, I'll even let you have the first move."

"Thundershock!" Ash screamed, wasting no time. Electricity crackled around Pikachu's cheeks. The doduo shrieked. Lightning flashed. At the last possible moment, the bird _moved_. Electricity slammed into the ground, charring it. Ash coughed as the smell of burnt grass stung his nostrils.

Ash grit his teeth. "Fine then, Pikachu, show it that you're faster! Quick attack!"

By the way Gary smirked, Ash was certain that he had played right into his hands. "Trip it," he commanded. Pikachu snarled. His body became a blur. He raced for the doduo, almost disappearing to Ash's eyes. Instead of fleeing, the doduo stood still. At the last possible moment it lifted a foot and caught Pikachu completely of guard. Crying as he stumbled, Pikachu lost his balance and fell face first into the ground, skidding a foot along the dirt.

"That's cheating!" Ash accused. "You can't fight dirty!"

"Says who?" Gary shot back. "You're going to be battling pokémon that are trying to defend themselves at any cost. If you can't fight dirty and you expect them to fight fair, you'll lose. Just like you're going to do now. Doduo, kick it!"

His pokémon squawked and before Ash could process what he was seeing, it appeared in front of his pikachu. It _punted_ Pikachu like a soccer ball, sending him flying. Ash winced as his pokémon bounced along the ground, once, twice, before coming to a stop at the water's edge.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried. Pikachu's legs shook as he tried to get back to his feet. Unable to support his own weight, he collapsed on the ground, panting, resting a paw on his injured side. "Come on buddy, get up!"

"That's enough," Gary said, recalling his pokémon. "I'm not going to carry on fighting. Any more and I'll end up doing permanent damage to your pokémon."

"So you forfeit?" Ash snarled.

"No Ash, _you lose_. I'm not going to hospitalise your pokémon to prove that point. We'll battle again when you actually know a thing or two about pokémon."

"I'm _not stupid_!" Ash screamed as he raced to Pikachu's side. Gary shrugged dismissively at him. Misty said nothing as she approached Ash, her mouth drawn into a thin line. She reached out to touch Pikachu, meeting Ash's eyes before she did so. At his nod, she ran her hand along Pikachu's head, smoothing out the fur as she reached into her bag and withdrew a spray bottle.

"Use this," she said, pressing it into Ash's hand. "It's an antiseptic spray that will give a boost to Pikachu's natural healing abilities." She stood quickly, spinning round to face Gary. "Don't be too harsh on him," she said. "He's been in the pokémon centre for the past few days waiting for his pikachu to recover - it's not like he's had time to do any training."

"There's still such a thing as _theory_ ," Gary said.

Misty sighed, shaking her head. "Gary, there's such a thing as a bad winner. I get what you're trying to do, but you're going about it wrong." She squatted down beside Ash and took the medicinal spray back off him, applying it to Pikachu herself. "Try not to use League terms for battle abilities," she said.

"Why?" Ash asked, confused. He watched the way that she parted Pikachu's fur and sprayed the scraped skin beneath without any apparent difficulty.

"Think about it, Ash. Everyone will know what you're planning straight away." She spared him a brief glance before looking back at Pikachu. "I know what you're about to say, so don't. The Elites use those terms in exhibition matches so that everyone can understand what's going on. If you're going to battle gyms, they'll only use those terms until you've got four badges, then they'll pull out all the stops."

"Then what do I do instead?" Ash asked.

Misty shrugged. "That's up to you. Gym leaders, Elites and Champions have their pokémon at such a level that they can understand all these different commands. Some even make sure their pokémon can understand other languages. The League terms are good for starting off training a pokémon so it knows what you mean when you say that, but after that, it's a good idea to teach them other commands."

"But, Pikachu knew what I meant instantly when I told him what to use."

Gary snorted as he walked over to them. "You got that pikachu from my grandpa. Gramps isn't stupid - he makes sure that all the pokémon given out as starters know basic commands so that everyone has an easier time."

"Oh," Ash said, focusing on the way Pikachu's bruising was slowly disappearing before his eyes. Cooing at Misty's touch, his pokémon nuzzled against her hand, embracing the attention, pain apparently forgotten. Ash smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I have a lot to learn, huh? How comes you know so much about this, Misty?"

She sighed as she moved Pikachu into Ash's arms and stood up. "I… my family… I used to be a gym leader."

"Really?" Ash felt his heart rate explode again. "A gym leader? That's awesome! Hey, wait a minute, that means I can challenge you for a badge, right?"

" _Used to be_ , Ash," Misty said, turning from him. "Some… things happened. I'm not a gym leader anymore. My family have nothing to do with the gym now."

"Oh," Ash whispered. "Sorry."

"Hey Ash," Gary said suddenly, crouching down beside him. "Look, I want to talk to Misty for a bit. Why don't you wait here until your pikachu recovers, set up camp and Misty and I can search for some firewood and something to eat."

"Uh, sure," Ash said, his mind a mess. How did someone even get fired from being a gym leader anyway? He was sure he had never heard of anything like that before.

"Awesome," Gary said, slapping Ash on the back. "We'll be back in a bit, Ashy-boy. If you're feeling up to it later, I'll even help you train."

Ash looked up sharply, expecting some sort of prank. Unable to see any obvious signs of one, he smiled and rubbed Pikachu's chin. "Sure, Gary. That sounds good."

"Awesome." Gary reached beneath the collar of his t shirt to pull free a poké ball attached to a necklace beneath. He recalled his squirtle - pointing the poké ball at the water's surface and getting a perfect shot on the first go - before pressing two fingers to his head and saluting Ash. "Smell ya later."

 **=0=0=0=**

As much as he tried, Gary found himself unable to recall the exact point that the League had become so much of a tourist attraction. When Daisy had first gone travelling he had met her at base camp where the diverging paths to Mount Silver and Victory Road began. Though it was only four years ago, the camp had been composed of nothing but a few emergency supply stores and a few rudimentary healing facilities, with all the prices jacked up through the roof.

Since then it had transformed completely. The small hut he remembered that sold the best ramen he had ever tasted had been replaced with a tourist clothes shop, selling League-branded waterproof jackets, magnets and trainer hats. The path to Victory Road where they had watched Daisy proceed to her league challenge - where their father had managed to fall flat over a geodude hidden in the ground - was now prefixed by a red arch that was decorated with children's drawings of the League badges.

"Come on," Misty said as she grabbed his wrist. "We'll head towards Tohjo. There should be less tourists there."

Gary scowled at the latest coach to pull up. It was a bright green _monstrosity_ with dancing ludicolo painted over the side. His grandpa had mentioned in passing that people were more interested in pokémon battling now than they had been in the past. When Samuel Oak had stepped down as Champion the League went through a succession of subpar Champions until Lance convinced the League to close ranks for a few years. When he had announced that the League was open to appointing a new Champion once more, everyone and their mother had suddenly taken up pokémon training. Gary knew that it had benefits most people could only dream of, though he appreciated the fact it resulted in the League providing better healthcare for their pokémon, as well as better long-term prospects for trainers and even insurance policies to cover them.

Though of course it also meant people like _Will_ would suddenly emerge from their nests.

Gary shoved his hands into his pockets with more force than he needed. He kicked a pebble into the road and frowned as a bright blue coach raced over it, halting the pebble's path along the gravel. Gary growled at the road, choosing instead to hop over a small wooden fence and walk along the uneven grass. There was a sheer drop to his left, where he could hear the waves crashing against the rocks below, though he stomped across the ground, daring the universe to add to his bad mood.

"Gary," Misty said as she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him closer to the fence. He looked over the edge and failed to see the real problem. They were still below the clouds. He could see the hill that he would roll down, if his footing failed him. Hell, depending on the speed he was going, he could even guess which boulder would stop his descent and break his body.

"Gary!" Misty hissed, dragging him back to the fence and holding onto the top of his arm. "Stop it! You're scaring me!"

" _I'm_ scaring _you_?" He spun to face her, his fists balled so tight that he could feel the circulation in his hands beginning to cut off. "That freaky clown _attacked_ you and _I'm_ the one that's scaring you?" He turned away from her and picked up a rock, picturing Will's face in the clouds before he threw it as far as he could manage. Nailing the imaginary Will's eye, Gary turned back to face Misty and felt his arms shake. "I'm _pissed_ , Mist. I'm… I don't even know the words for how _angry_ I am. He _threatened_ you. He dared to use his freaking _magic psychic powers_ on you. I can't tell Gramps because I'm sure he has his own problems he's keeping from me. I can't tell Daisy because she'll stop us both from travelling and I'm too _weak_ to do anything about it myself!"

"I know," Misty growled, matching his tone. "You don't think I feel the same way? _I_ was the one he threatened, you spikey-haired _prick_. It was _me_ that he choked without laying a finger on me. You know as well as I do that we're to keep psychics and dark pokémon on us to prevent people like him and Sabrina hurting us and yet, he took out Ren _without any effort_."

"Mist-"

"Don't," she snarled, knocking away the hand he had started to offer. "Don't try and say anything to make me feel better. You can't. Gary, if there's one thing we've learnt so far with our lives it's that _shit happens_." She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, puffing out her chest as she stood tall. "I was scared, yes. I'm _still_ scared. But you know what? I'm not going to let that rule me." She plucked a poké ball from her belt and enlarged it. "Your plan still stands, Gary. I want to become an Elite. I want to help change the world. I'm not strong enough yet - I knew that anyway, but this proves it. If I want to help anyone, I need to be able to defend myself first. If I train my pokémon, I need to train myself." She tossed the poké ball forwards without a sound. Blinking past the white spots in his vision, Gary smiled as the familiar sight of Misty's vaporeon formed.

The pokémon yawned as it stretched, its blue fur almost the colour of the sky. Beneath the fur Gary could see the jet black of the pokémon's skin. Her tail straightening, the vaporeon mewed and bounced up to Gary, purring as she rubbed her head against his hand.

He climbed back over the fence to the side of the path and began to walk slowly towards Tohjo Falls. He could see the waterfalls in the distance, a sparkling blue that seemed to blend perfectly with the surrounding sky. At such a distance the mountain seemed to be a shade of black he could believe was obsidian.

"Jasmine," Misty said. Her vaporeon turned and bounced after her, rubbing her face and body against Misty's legs. She purred as she walked in front of Misty, pressing against her legs whenever Misty took another step. Misty smiled and walked in an odd half-crouch as she reached down to stroke her pokémon behind the ears. "We need to train harder than we ever have before. Gary thinks he knows how our parents died. I want us to be Champion level. I want us to be able to change the world. But to do that, I'll need your help. As much as I train you, I need you to help me get stronger. We're partners; all of us. A team is only as strong as its weakest link and right now, that's me."  
Her pokémon answered by rubbing her face against Misty's hands, purring louder than before.  
"You're sweet," Misty continued, "but I'm right, I am the weakest member of this team."

Gary could see this conversation going one of two ways. Both paths ended with Misty feeling worse about herself than she already did. "Hey Jasmine," he said, drawing their attention. He held up a poké ball for the pokémon to look at. "I've got your old buddy here." With a flash of light, his eevee materialised between them. Mewling, his pokémon took one look at the vaporeon and growled playfully, leaping at her and rolling onto its back.

"Shadow's still as playful as ever, huh?" Misty slowed her pace to fall back in line with Gary. They watched as their pokémon bounced across the path and headed towards the steep, grassy hill to disturb a pidgey pecking at the ground.

"Strange," Misty said, a grin on her face. "I always thought he'd end up as dour and pouty as you."

Gary rolled her eyes at her laughter, though found himself smiling as Jasmine began chasing Shadow, spitting small beams of ice for his eevee to dodge. "Blame Daisy," he said. "Her growlithe is a big bundle of dumb fluff and Daisy loves giving pokémon attention." He smiled as Shadow rolled around in the grass, covering himself in dirt and twigs. Even beneath the grime, Shadow's fur seemed to shine _silver_ as the sun hit it.

"So," Gary said as they crossed the path to join their pokémon, "you sure about travelling with Ash?"

"I don't know," Misty admitted with a sigh. When they reached the grassy bank she collapsed on the floor and began to pluck stalks of grass from the ground, pulling them to pieces between her fingers. "I mean, I know I need to train and get stronger. Maybe travelling with a greenhorn isn't the best idea for that, but… he's a dumbass. He needs help and I'm honestly worried he would be another dead trainer if I left him on his own." She sighed as she tossed desiccated grass into the air. "Not just that though, Gary. His pikachu took out a whole flock of spearow and Ash was basically ground zero in that explosion. Somehow he survived. I mean, I've heard stories of people surviving things that should kill them, but seeing it…" She looked up as her vaporeon crawled over, and smiled as Jasmine rested her head in Misty's lap. "Besides, he's doing a gym challenge. It'll be good for me to see the others, see what they think I should do."

"You sound like you're searching for excuses," Gary said, not entirely convinced. "I mean, Ash is mostly harmless, but-" He looked up sharply as he saw Shadow race at something in the distance. With the mental picture of his pokémon tumbling down the mountainside, Gary's stomach did a flip. He called out Shadow's name and raced towards the pokémon, trying to tune out the horrible thoughts that sprung into his mind.

The relief that flooded through him when he saw Shadow had just found a pokémon almost floored him. He frowned as he stopped, trying to figure out just what it was Shadow had found. The pokémon was in a tree, paw buried in a combee nest. Gary saw a combee on the ground, dead from what appeared to be burns. Shadow stood on the other side of the tree, growling up at the feeding pokémon.

"Is that a teddiursa?" Gary said, to himself. He was aware that Misty had yet to move, having waited back to see what the situation was. _Her loss_ , he thought to himself, smirking as the teddiursa looked down at him. Its eyes, big and black, made it seem deceptively adorable. White fur formed the pattern of a crescent moon on its head. The rest of its beige fur was slathered in fresh honey, which the pokémon was slowly eating, its eyes focused on them.

"Unusual to see them without their mothers." Gary glanced around, just to be certain. Attacking a cub within sight of the mother was a sure way to being eaten. If this one was out alone, feeding on honey, it had to have been abandoned, or something had happened to its mother. "Alright Shadow, I think you've found us a new teammate. Now, knock it out the tree!"

His eevee leaped up, growling as its tail shone like metal. With a flip, Shadow brought his tail down on the trunk of the tree. The teddiursa snarled, sinking its claws into the branch it stood on. It looked between the honey, Shadow and Gary, and making its decision, jumped from the tree. Gary gasped, moving back a step as the pokémon's fists burst into flame. Screeching, the teddiursa brought its flaming fists down to attack Shadow.

Shadow was faster. He leaped backwards, watching as the teddiursa slammed its fists into the ground. Flames licking the grass around the impact, Shadow paced a wide circle around the pokémon, baring his teeth in a growl. As the teddiursa made to move, the eevee leaped forwards. He sunk his teeth into the teddiursa's wrist, dispelling the flame. As the teddiursa cried out, Shadow snarled, digging his claws into the pokémon's face.

Gary smirked as he tossed a poké ball at the teddiursa. As it vanished into red light, his eevee danced backwards, fur raised, snarling at the ball. He watched, breath held as the ball rocked once, twice, three times before finally it stilled.

"Hell yeah," Gary whispered, grinning. Shadow raced up to him, poké ball in his mouth, tail wagging. Gary smiled as he rubbed the pokémon's head, congratulating him on the battle.

"And Gary catches another pokémon," Misty said, startling him. Gary spun around, certain he had done a good job of hiding his fear, up until the point he saw Misty's smile. Accepting defeat, he scowled at her as she took the teddiursa's poké ball from him and scanned it with her own pokédex, painted some shade of blue with what he assumed was nail polish.

"You know, Gramps would kill you if he saw that's how you treated his inventions."

"Whatever," Misty replied with a roll of her eyes. Her vaporeon padded towards them slowly and taking one look at Shadow, curled around him and began to groom him behind the ears.

"He'd be happy it's being used at all." Misty shut her pokédex and tossed the ball back at him. His stomach felt like it dropped to the floor when he nearly failed catching the ball, his mind instantly picturing the pokémon bursting open and attacking him. "Speaking of being used, don't forget to train all these pokémon you're catching."

"I know," Gary said. "Give it longer and my battles will actually be interesting, not just smacking each other until one's weak enough to capture."

He saw another coach full of tourists back on the road, heading back down to civilisation. The coach, an obnoxious shade of bright blue, was decorated with a large banner proclaiming a ' _new and improved Cerulean gym!'_ Gary tried his best to move so that he was stood in Misty's line of sight, to stop her from seeing it. By the way she flinched and looked down at her pokémon, he knew he failed. "Anyway Mist," he said, placing the teddiursa's ball onto his belt, "you should think about getting something new. There's psyduck near here. We can go after one of those?"

"No," she said, downcast. Just as he was about to ask her the obvious, stupid question, she looked up at met his eyes. "I've been thinking that I need to get something else. Something different. I want to be the world's best water pokémon trainer, but that doesn't mean I should train exclusively those. Look at Lance, at Bruno. Hell, Sinnoh's Elites only recently started meeting challengers with teams made up of their specialism."

"True," Gary said, thinking. Auntie Aggie - as much as she hated him calling her that - had an extremely diverse team of pokémon. Sure, she had a full roster of ghosts she had collected from all around the world - she would not have been much of a medium otherwise - but Gary always smiled at the memory of his father dressing as Santa one Christmas and creeping into their house with Agatha's stantler carrying a bag of presents to sell the illusion.

He shook his head, clearing away those memories. They were still too painful. Instead he looked down at Shadow, snorting at the sight of his pokémon's content face as Jasmine groomed him. "That's a good idea, Mist. You'll get to learn your strengths and weaknesses firsthand."

"I know, Gary," she said with a smile. "I do have a brain in my skull, believe it or not."

She opened her mouth to say more. Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a horrible _screeching_ sound. Gary flinched, drawing his neck into his shoulders. Their pokémon stopped, frozen in place.

It sounded like the tyres on a car slamming on, trying to stop in time. Gary pictured the coach going too close to the edge of the cliff, hitting the barrier, breaking through.

Then he heard the _crunch_ and the loud, _pained_ sound of whatever it hit.

He had barely even processed what was happening before he realised Misty was racing towards the sounds, her vaporeon by her side. He blinked, his brain feeling extremely sluggish. Finally all the pieces fell into place. He gasped, calling her name and raced after her, Shadow at his side.

It sounded like the coach had hit something. His mind raced through all the possible opportunities. They had moved south of the base camp - far, far away from Ash, without meaning to. The pokémon were stronger here, more territorial. God forbid the coach had smacked into a larvitar baby, or an aron. The parents would _not_ be pleased. Nor would an adult ursaring.

His brain raced as quickly as his legs. He followed after Misty, developing tunnel vision. He could only see her and the path in front of him. Nothing else mattered. He stumbled over the uneven ground, swearing as he lost his balance. He would _not_ let her face anything alone. They started racing downhill. He saw the obnoxious advertisement for a new Cerulean gym. His heart sunk.

He saw the impact dent on the front of the coach. Blood was smeared over the front bumper. The glass of the headlights had shattered. Steam was pouring out of the coach's engine. He saw blood over the gravel road, heard the cries of the pained pokémon. The coach driver had emerged, his face pale, a phone placed to his ear. Misty screamed something at him as she vaulted over the fence, rushing to the injured pokémon's side.

Gary's breath nearly left him as he saw the damage. _So much blood_. He had to struggle against the threat of his breakfast coming back up. Misty, not caring about the sight, had knelt by the pokémon's side, covering herself in its blood. She was trying to soothe it, having her pokémon help her to avoid the pokémon's injured thrashing.

He knew that ponyta were wild in the area, yet Gary had thought that all pokémon that lived near roads had some sense about how to cross them. Murkrow had been reported to drop their prey in front of speeding cars, killing it for them. Vullaby had been known to follow after certain makes of vehicles, knowing that they were the most likely to leave a trail of roadkill in their wake.

Shadow yipped, drawing Gary back to reality. He swore as he raced to Misty's side, shuddering at the sound of the blood under his shoes. He could hear the coach driver's panicked voice as he tried to speak to what Gary hoped was the police.

The ponyta whinnied, fear obvious is its eyes. Two broken legs, a gash across its side so large that Gary could _see inside_.

He turned, feeling the bile rise up in his throat. Misty, having done everything she apparently could, pressed a poké ball to the pokémon's head. The pokémon disappeared in a flash of light and thankfully, stayed contained within.

"I'm taking this to Viridian," Misty announced, withdrawing her vaporeon. She grabbed another poké ball, calling forth her starmie. Covered in blood, Misty looked like she had been the victim of a bad horror movie. Gary struggled to look at her without feeling queasy. She met his eyes, her face deadly serious. "Ash doesn't have a phone - find a way to contact him after you're done here." She placed a hand on the top of her starmie. A flash of light and they vanished, teleporting back to civilisation.

Gary took a breath, unable to hear anything but the pounding of his pulse in his ears. He called out his squirtle and instructed him to wash away the blood from the road and the front of the coach. The last thing anyone needed was predators catching the scent of blood. The last thing _he_ needed was to faint or vomit from seeing all of it.

"Alright!" he shouted, moving past the driver and into the coach. He saw a sea of frightened faces staring back at him, half of which all had their phones pressed to their ears. "Right, anyone here speak English?" He scowled as only two people lifted their arms. " _Nihongo o hanashite kudasai?_ " he tried instead. Those that did not have their phones pressed to their ears answered him, lifting their arms.

 _Brilliant,_ he thought, sourly. If he guessed right, they had about twenty minutes before the first ranger would be able to respond. That meant twenty minutes of calming people in a language he felt painfully uncertain in, whilst also trying to make sure nothing scented injured pokémon and came looking for an easy meal.

His grandmother had always warned him that learning to speak Japanese would benefit him in the long term. As she always was, it appeared that she was also right about this. Sighing, he wished that he had listened to her more when she was alive.

Like everything else, Gary wondered why he only ever realised these things too late.

Ash sighed. His back ached from where he had sat hunched over from so long. His legs were beginning to lose feeling from Pikachu having sat in the perfect position to cut off blood flow. He watched the local pidgey soar from tree to tree, feeling the boredom well and truly set in.

"They said they wouldn't be gone long," he complained. The campsite remained silent, providing him with no answer. Pikachu opened an eye at his voice, yawned and returned back to sleep. Ash had tried looking through his pokédex to see if it had any decent information, following the leads Misty and Gary had given him. It had plenty of information, which was half the problem in itself; Ash had no idea what to do with all of it.

"How am I meant to be a pokémon master if I can't even understand a couple of description pages?" he whined. Reading information for pikachu as a species had left his mind feeling like he had spent too long on a merry go round. There was just so much information. Maybe he would learn how to use it properly, in time. The problem he was finding was that the more he found out, the less he felt prepared to do anything.

"I need to get stronger if I want to beat Gary," he said aloud. Glancing down at Pikachu, he amended, " _we_ need to get stronger." He knew they needed to train. He also knew they needed more pokémon. On top of that, he needed strategies, to teach them commands, to know more about pokémon himself…

"Who knew this would be so complicated, huh buddy?" he asked, scratching Pikachu's head. His pokémon cooed in answer, content with being spoiled.

Ash sighed as he leaned back, resting on his elbows. He let his gaze wander over the trees, wondering just how many spearow were in there now, watching them. Did they all know about what happened outside Pallet? What if he had been marked by them? One stupid decision, one little rock and suddenly, everything had almost come to an end.

 _Almost, but not quite_. Ash thought back to the pokémon that had appeared with the rainbow, seeming to be nothing more than a mirage. Even now, he could not be certain if the feather he had found was related. The feeling of hope, of awe, of inspiration was still there though, even when he simply thought about the pokémon.

He scanned the treeline again, stopping when he saw a flash of what appeared to be _gold_. He focused on the pokémon, squinting at the tree in the distance. Though he needed to be closer to be certain, Ash was sure there was a hoothoot staring back at him, watching him without blinking.

Ash turned, trying to think nothing of it. Hoothoot were nocturnal pokémon after all, so it was more than likely it was just sleeping. With its eyes open. Whilst making hooting noises.

Glancing back, he saw the pokémon had moved closer. Ash moved his legs a little, disturbing Pikachu. He placed a hand on the pokémon's back as he moved his legs, rubbing circles in Pikachu's fur. "There's a pokémon watching us," Ash whispered. Pikachu's ears darted up like antenna, alert instantly. "It's a hoothoot."

Ash felt his pikachu relax, just slightly. After their previous events, mentioning spearow to his pokémon made the pikachu tense and search for any of the birds to attack. To a lesser degree, the pokémon also was on edge at any mention of a koffing, ekans or meowth. Ash thought briefly to the two people that claimed to be Team Rocket, wondering if what Misty said was right.

As he came back to reality, he saw the hoothoot had moved to the tree closest to him - almost perfectly above Misty's tent. Ash looked at the pokémon, surprised by how thin it was. As the sunlight trickled through the leaves above, the pokémon's feathers seemed to shine gold. _No wonder it looks so thin_ , Ash thought. _If any light catches it does that, it must have a hard time hunting_.

"Hey hoothoot!" he yelled, waving his hand. The pokémon fluttered, leaping from the branch it stood and climbing higher in the tree. Not one to be distracted so easily, Ash grabbed a handful of pokémon food and placed it in a pile on the other side of the campfire to himself. He had to keep a hold on Pikachu to make sure the pokémon didn't scare off the hoothoot - or descend on the food himself.

"Help yourself!" Ash declared. "I've got plenty and you look like you need some."

Backing up, Ash kept his gaze on the pokémon. The hoothoot descended back down to its original branch, hopping between legs as it looked between Ash and the pile of food. Ash smiled to himself, trying to ignore the way his palms seemed to be getting sweatier and sweatier. He and Gary had always argued about the ways to catch pokémon - Gary had claimed that you had to battle to prove yourself, yet Ash had always thought that showing a pokémon you were a friend was better. Beating them to catch them just seemed akin to controlling them through fear. As far as Ash was concerned, he would rather have a pokémon disobey him because he was being an idiot, rather than blindly following his orders because they were afraid of him.

"That's right," Ash said, watching the hoothoot come down from the tree. It stopped at the base of the trunk, still hopping from foot to foot. Each time it did so, it would retract one foot into its body, as if it could only keep out one at a time. Ash would have believed it had only one foot, had he not seen a brief glimpse of one emerging whilst the other was retracting.

"Little further," he coaxed. He felt Pikachu tense in his lap and Ash smiled. Obviously his pokémon knew what was happening. He knew that they would be getting a new teammate and -

A brown blur raced at the pile of food, swiping it with a screech.

" _Hey_!" Ash screamed, startling the hoothoot, frightening it into flying away. His heart sunk as he saw the pokémon disappear back into the trees. His hands shaking with anger, he spun around and found the pokémon responsible for everything. It shrieked from the tree it hung in by its tail, making a sound suspiciously like a laugh as it tossed pellets of food into its mouth. Its cream fur contrasted its brown tail and paws, though its blood-red eyes remained focused on Ash, even as it continued to eat the pile of food it had stolen.

"Just what's the big idea?" Ash cried. The pokémon swung its tail, launching itself into the air. It snatched an apple from the tree and mid-air, spun and threw it at Ash.

Screaming, Ash threw himself at the floor. He felt something pass over him and glanced upwards. Pikachu had leaped up to catch the apple, snarling as he batted it away, his cheeks sparking. The mankey pointed at them both, hopping from foot to foot as it continued to laugh.

"Oh yeah?" Ash growled. "Pikachu, stun this thief!"

Pikachu growled as he raced forwards, cheeks discharging static. The mankey hooted as it danced backwards, flipping around bolts of electricity. It shrieked as one caught it in the base of its foot, sparking its way up the pokémon's leg. It landed awkwardly, unable to put any weight on the limb. With a snarl it scooped mud into its paws and shrieked as it began to barrage Pikachu with it.

"Dodge!" Ash cried, leaping to his feet to avoid the mud that missed his pokémon. Pikachu raced in a circle around the mankey, blasting any mud that came too close with shocks of electricity. The mankey, angry at its paralyzed leg, began to holler as it bounced up and down.

"Quick attack!" Ash cried. Pikachu raced forwards in a blur, smashing his skull into the mankey's nose. The pokémon screeched, slapping its paws over its bleeding nose. As it recoiled backwards, Pikachu spun around and shocked it, point blank. Ash saw the mankey's fur singe before his eyes. Unwilling to let it suffer, he tossed a poké ball at it and hit it square between the eyes.

He clenched his fists as the ball dropped to the ground and began to shake. He counted out the painfully long seconds as the ball struggled to contain the mankey.

Finally it stilled.

"Alright!" Ash cheered, racing foward. He scooped the ball and Pikachu up from the ground, laughing as he spun around. "We did it! We caught our first pokémon!"

Ash grinned as Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder, rubbing his cheek affectionately against Ash's face. He tucked the poké ball onto his belt, wondering what to do with the mankey. It felt like one small step towards actually achieving his dream - and a massive _told you so_ to Gary.

"Maybe we should give it a name," Ash wondered aloud. He walked slowly back to the campsite, frowning at the remains of the pokémon food he left for the hoothoot. Whilst he was still happy he had caught something - and he could not _wait_ to see Misty's face when he showed her - he still would have wanted to have caught the bird. He could remember dreaming about flying on the back of a flying pokémon since he was tiny, able to see the world from the sky, to travel among the clouds, to reach out and touch them, to see if they were really made of candy floss, like Gary had always claimed.

He stopped at the sound of a pokémon behind him. Fearing the worst, he spun around on the spot, only to find the very same hoothoot from before, looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Uh, hey," Ash said, staring right back at the pokémon. It said nothing as it continued to hop from foot to foot, the wind ruffling its golden feathers. It took Pikachu reaching over and pinching Ash's cheek for his brain to connect all the dots. "You're hungry!" he cried, racing back for his bag.

He reached in and took a handful of food pellets, leaving them in a small pile between him and the hoothoot. Trilling, the pokémon fluttered forwards and began to peck at the food, taking small bites. Ash noticed that the remains of the first pile of food he had left out had vanished. Either the local rattata had scurried out and claimed it when he was distracted, or the hoothoot had tried some and found it to its liking.

Ash went with the latter idea when the hoothoot looked up and clicked its beak together in what Ash assumed was a _thank you_.

"Hey, no worries," Ash said, waving his hand. "You look like you could do with some food." He smiled at the pokémon as he turned and moved back to his tent, making certain to sit so that he was not facing the pokémon directly. "I've got plenty more of that," he mentioned as he pulled out his pokedex and began to scroll through the information on mankey. According to the pokédex, raising fighting types was a matter of establishing dominance. Ash grit his teeth at the thought of having to admit Gary was right about something. Even the thought of it left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Pikachu jumped down to the ground and buried himself in Ash's lap once more, though Ash could see his pokémon was watching the hoothoot from the corner of his eye, much as Ash was. He saw the bird looking at them between bites, seemingly evaluating them both.

Ash shrugged, returning back to the pokédex. Sure, Gary and Misty had explained to him the whole catching one pokémon per location thing. The way Ash saw it, however, was that if a pokémon sought you out, then clearly it wanted to be captured. It would be a different matter entirely if he were to be hunting pokémon and catching everything he saw.

With a shrug to himself, Ash turned his attention back to his pokédex. He managed to read a little about the usual temperament of a mankey before Pikachu prodded his leg, drawing his attention. Ash looked up to see the hoothoot stood in front of them, its head tilted curiously at them.

"Hey little fella," Ash said, returning the pokédex to his pocket. He glanced up to see all the food pellets had gone. "Feeling better now?"

Instead of answering, the hoothoot continued to watch him, wide-eyed, unblinking.

"Well, like I said," Ash said, unperturbed, "there's plenty more where that came from." He plucked an empty ball from his belt and held it out for the pokémon to see. "If I catch you in one of these, you become one of my partners like Pikachu here. I;ll help you become big and strong, and you'll never have to worry about being hungry again. What do you say?"

The hoothoot bounced forwards and pressed its beak against the ball. As it vanished in a flash of light, Ash smiled to himself. He _told_ Gary that befriending pokémon was a valid way of catching them.

 **-0-0-0-**

Wallace swore as the acid began to eat through his gloves. He removed them as quickly as he could, cursing everything as his ludicolo doused his hand in water.

Ahead he saw Steven battling the crobat. Three of them had descended out of nowhere. Steven's skarmory screeched, its wings spread as it stood between them and its trainer. The poison was beginning to wear through the skarmory's feathers, eating its way through their defences.

Steel was meant to be immune to poison. Everything Wallace knew seemed to be unravelling before his eyes. His jellicent wailed as it emerged from the darkness, ensnaring a screaming crobat. Wallace flinched at the sounds the pokémon's bones made as his jellicent consumed it.

A cackle echoed from the darkness. For every pokémon they seemed to defeat, another took its place. He threw himself to the floor as the mismagius descended from the shadows, tendrils of darkness reaching out like nightmarish vines. His ludicolo froze all that approached, dancing around the attacks to a beat that only he could hear.

"Steven!" Wallace shouted, pushing himself to his feet. Steven's head was cut, bleeding. He was hiding behind his bronzong. The pokémon grunted as it continued to bare the brunt of the crobat attacks, slowly recovering what injuries it could.

Knife in hand, Wallace slashed at one of the bats. It avoided it with ease, shrieking as it snapped at him. Wallace twisted out of the way, throwing himself to the floor, landing beside Steven. He saw first hand how bad the damage had gotten. Steven had always been hard as steel, impossible to break. Apparently even that had its limits. Wallace could tell that his arm was broken, that his nose and jaw were likely the same. The skin around his eyes was already yellow, bruised.

"They're impossibly strong," Steven whispered, glancing out from behind his bronzong. Their eyes met and for the first time since they were children, Wallace saw _fear_ in Steven's face. "Cynthia was right. Something's happening. We need to get help."

"Well come on then," Wallace snapped, clutching the knife tightly. "Let's go!"

"You go," Steven said. "My metagross is too large to use in here. So is your milotic. You're the only one with a teleporter small enough to use in these confines. Go. Get help."

"And leave you here?" Wallace snorted. "Fat chance. We're in this together, remember?"

" _Wally_ ," Steven hissed, grabbing his chin. "The pokémon here are extremely powerful. We've traced records of the giant here. You know these things are connected. People have to be warned."

Wallace glanced over his shoulder. His ludicolo growled as the mismagius vanished into the shadows once again. His jellicent emerged from the floor, snatching another crobat from the air. Another raced at them, trying to save its comrade. Steven's skarmory hissed, reaching noise levels that drove the bats around her into spasms. For the first time, Wallace felt like they were beginning to win.

He _felt_ the rumbling in the walls before the temperature dropped. The wild pokémon stopped attacking. They turned and fled. Wallace watched as the crobats flew back into the darkness of the caves. The mismagius raced back into the shadows, disappearing. Their pokémon closed in around them, forming a protective ring.

By the paltry light from bronzong, Wallace saw tentacles of inky black shadow reach out to the dead pokémon around them. The darkness _consumed_ their bodies. He heard the sounds of their flesh _ripping_ from their bones, like it was being _digested_ in front of him. The twilight gloom began to grow, to gain shape. For each of their defeated foes, the monster in the dark grew larger. Ethereal darkness loomed above them, like a snake made of shadow.

Two piercing red eyes opened.

" _Giratina_ ," Steven whispered. Wallace looked at him in horror. His very skin felt like it could crawl off and run. His teeth felt like they were vibrating. The primal fear he felt made his entire body want to race off in every possible direction at once.

They recalled their pokémon. The shadow demon _howled_.

Wallace's slowking appeared in a flash of light. The shadows _hissed_ at them. Grabbing Steven's hand, Wallace grabbed his pokémon and willed it to teleport them anywhere other than there, in those caves.

As the world around them disappeared into a bright, shining light, Wallace was certain he heard a voice.

 _I̥̭͚̩̹̓̑͑̚'̩͚̜̟̼ͯ̉m͚̟͂̃ ̫̟̼̊̈́̔ͯc̰̗̱͔̝͇̰ͩ͆͗o̬̫͙̐̃̏͋̏m̻̫̲͇͖̪̩̐̓ͭͧͣ̈ͩ̽̆i͍̱͇̦͖͖͈̋̎ͫ͛n͖̦͗g̟̘̻̭̦̮̫̘ͧ̍̑ͣ̉ ̗͓͔̲̻̩̹̻ͭ͗̽ͬ̐̊̈́f̙̘͍͇̗̟ͯ̋͂̇̅̑ͅo̹̝̤̝̟͈̜̓͆́̋̌ṟ͌̓ ̜̻̺̅͗̍̒̉ͩ̓̒̚ý̤̭͙̙͈͉͎̀̂̔ͣ̋ò͉̝̦̹̈́͐u̙̥̪̖̻̟̮͙ͯ̓͗ͩ̈́.̰͖̻̬ͧͧ̆̚_


	3. Rivals - II

The ponyta was being healed. Ash and Gary would be on their way back from their impromptu camp site. With no other real ideas of what to do with her time, Misty had decided to put her money where her mouth was and actually start _doing_ rather than spending her time thinking.

She broke the water's surface and inhaled greedily. Her lungs felt like they were burning. The weights on her arms and legs felt like they were trapping her, bringing her further down into the depths. Her heart was racing as she pulled herself to the side of the pool and groaned. She rested her forehead against the cool, blue tiles of the poolside floor and began to laugh between gasps for air.

"Six minutes," she said, still gasping. It was good - _amazing_ compared to most people. The world record was over twenty minutes - she wanted _at least_ half of that. Her arms shook as her muscles adjusted to relaxing once again. She took the weights off and let them _thump_ against the tiled floor next to her. Perhaps swimming underwater lengths whilst holding her breath was too much, she reflected. Pushing away from the side of the pool, she continued to tread water and embraced the quiet, letting her mind run riot with ideas that she would probably never have the time to complete.

She wanted to learn to fight. Maybe getting a fighting pokémon would help in that endeavour. But then, she would need to train that and learn the best method for raising one of those, in addition to the pokémon she already had. She twirled in the water before relaxing and floating atop the water's surface. Since she had left Cerulean she had put off swimming for the longest time, afraid that the smell of chlorine would give her flashbacks to home and leave her a miserable mess.

The truth was that yes, whilst she found herself thinking of home the instant she smelt the pool water, her thoughts faded away the moment she began to swim again. She had forgotten just how much she _loved_ being in the water. She could push herself to her limits whilst swimming alongside her pokémon in their natural element.

Closing her eyes, she thought about how she could make herself stronger. Every idea she came up was related to her physical strength, annoying her further. She needed something that would put her on the levels of the Elites. Her pokémon could become as strong, if not stronger. She knew she would need to be smart - smarter, perhaps, than anyone she knew.

She opened her eyes as something bumped into her hand. She smiled upon seeing her poliwag and ran her fingers over the pokémon's skin, noting the stumps forming on its side. It was one of the signs evolution was coming closer. The arm bones of a poliwhirl were forming already. It had to be painful, which was why Misty was slowing down training with her poliwag, to give her room to grow.

"Hey Willow," she said. She ran her fingertips along the pokémon's head, rubbing the spot above her eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'm just planning, thinking really. We all need to train and get stronger. I'm just trying to work out the best way to do that."

Her poliwag trilled as she began to tread water alongside Misty. Taking that as a confirmation of a good idea, Misty continued, "It'll be hard, really tough. But we'll pull through. You're strong, all of you."

She looked up at the splashing sounds coming from her other pokémon. Cutting through the water's surface, her totodile chased after the training floats that had been left in the pool when they arrived. Misty watched as her pokémon snuck after them, treating them much like it would live prey. Her pokémon approached slowly, methodically and when it was close enough, struck, pulling the float underwater, spinning quickly as it did so.

Misty felt her eyebrows raise, unable to deny the fact that she was impressed. She could remember the little thing as a newborn who was so noisy and loud that she was certain he would never manage to stealthily take down an enemy. Sure, it was only a harmless floatation device, but he was clearly eager to learn.

Like all totodile, he was slow to grow, though she could see his scales beginning to turn just a shade lighter. She would have to focus on all the speed training she could whilst he was still young, to get him ready for the next stage. She knew that once he was a croconaw, she could begin truly training his strength and push him further than before. The more she had his respect now and when he became a croconaw, the less trouble she would have when he would become a feraligatr over three times her size.

"Quill," Misty called. Her totodile glanced over her way, his yellow eyes blinking horizontally. He sped through the water without a sound, reaching Misty in the time it took her to blink. He bumped his snout against her hip, smiling in such a way that Misty saw he had lost another tooth. "Did you hear what I told Willow?"

In response, Quill rolled over onto his back and made a small, gurgling sound of demand. Misty sighed as she reached out and scratched his scaled stomach. "You're spoiled as hell," she accused. His scales, whilst not as sharp as a sharpedo's, were still rough to the touch. Misty placed her free hand on Willow's head and marvelled at the differences between them. They were her newest pokémon, the ones still yet to evolve and possibly with the most potential. As a feraligatr, Misty knew that Quill would easily be the powerhouse of her team. She would have to train him with Acacia, to get him used to dealing with long-ranged attackers. Meanwhile she could also have Acacia help Willow with other attacks. Starmie were natural psychics, after all. Misty knew that the poliwag species had some latent psychic potential, but had put off the thought of training those abilities for some time. It was her father that had helped with her starmie's abilities. She could remember the nights that her and Acacia, still a staryu at the time, had stayed up training with her father and his slowbro.

"So much to do," she groused. She could do all of it, eventually, but she had no clue how long it would take to complete. When she had told Gary that it would take ages for their plan to succeed she already knew it would be a matter of years, though she hoped they could achieve something before they transitioned into decades.

Glancing up, she saw the time displayed on the neon red wall clock and sighed, pulling herself from the water. The quiet hour that she had paid for in the pokémon centre training was quickly coming to its end. Groaning, she pulled herself out of the pool and made her way back to the changing room, letting her pokémon continue to enjoy the time in the water. She changed quickly into a red tank top and a pair of pale yellow, almost beige chinos. She had learnt from experience not to wear flip flops around Quill - the slapping sound they made against her feet was apparently very similar to the sounds a drowning pokémon would make as it slapped against the water, or at least that was the explanation Violet had used when it had first happened. Even if Misty thought the explanation was a bit odd, she was still going to take the advice from her sister - she did, after all, own the feraligatr that birthed Misty's own totodile.

She slid on a pair of black running shoes and made her way back to the pool, smiling at the sight of her pokémon playing. She snapped a picture of them both on her phone before recalling the pair and making her way back to the pokémon centre's reception area.

Misty breezed through the reception, barely passing a glance at the small gatherings of trainers that were sat on the pink couches, watching the news on the television. Viridian's gym, unlike all the others in the Kanto circuit, held the attraction that the leader would not face any trainer with less than seven badges. Usually most leaders would have teams specially for weaker trainers, however, Giovanni had a track record that rivalled even Lieutenant Surge's - even his weak pokémon had annihilated teams of trainer pokémon. Being the gym closest to the League, Giovanni had been given permission to only battle trainers of a certain strength.

Though it meant on average Giovanni battled far less trainers than the rest of the Kanto gym leaders, he was also the first responder for any emergencies concerning Mount Silver and the surrounding networks.

"Hey, Karen," Misty said, smiling at the woman working reception. She was young, barely out of her teenage years, with scars across her arms Misty knew from experience came from training pokémon. "How's that ponyta that I dropped off doing?"

Karen's smile seemed to falter at the mention of the pokémon. She made a show of undoing and re-tying her long, brown hair in a ponytail, before sliding a pen behind her ear. "Better, but well…" she glanced at the computer screen and spun the monitor around so Misty could see. "We're reaching the limits of what we can do here. The best bet for it would be going to the fire pokémon unit in Cinnabar but as it stands, this is the bill so far."

Misty's eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the number on the screen. Sure, she had known that she would have to pay for the treatment - Ash only got his pokémon healed for free because the pokédex was his ' _sponsored by Professor Oak'_ insurance card. Paying _that much_ though?

She felt horrible for considering letting the ponyta die, just so her bank balance would remain alive.

"Excuse me."

Misty jumped at the voice behind her. She spun, one hand on her thundering heart, another around Ren's poké ball, ready to unleash her crawdaunt on whoever it was. She stopped when she noticed the bright blue hair, the tanned skin and the bleached-teeth smile of Wallace Waterflower.

"Wallace?" she gasped, nearly dropping her poké ball. He looked like he needed sleep. Rather than his usual form-fitted, designed costume, he was wearing a dark blue blazer and jeans. His hands were scratched from what Misty assumed were pokémon claws - though she could not say she was certain what could have caused them.

"Little Misty, it really is you," he said, hugging her. She hugged him back, still too stunned for her brain to actually work. "I thought it may have been you when I saw you had booked out the pool for an hour. How fortuitous that I saw you here." He released her, smiling as she replaced the poké ball back onto her belt. "I didn't overhear much, but from what I gather, your pokémon needs specialist treatment?"

"It's not technically my pokémon," Misty admitted. "It was hit by a coach and really badly hurt, so I caught it to keep it alive and had my starmie teleport us here so I could get it healed. My friends should be headed back here soon, so I thought I could wait here to see how badly the pokémon was hurt."

"Badly," Karen answered, startling Misty. She had forgotten that she was even stood in front of the reception desk, letting everyone overhear her. "Both front legs were broken, there was internal bruising, broken ribs and possibly a concussion. It needs to be sent to the unit in Cinnabar if it wants to recover properly - they can heal it and start the physio treatment it will need."

"How well fate has aligned," Wallace said, reaching for his wallet. "What is family for?"

"Wait, what?" Misty said, stunned. "Wallace, you don't have to! I mean, I wouldn't expect you to-"

"Nonsense," he said, talking over her. "Think nothing of it." He plucked a card out of his wallet and handed it over to the receptionist. "Make the payment against that account, if you please."

"Do you want to see how much the balance is?"

"No need, I can pay."

Misty watched the exchange with wide eyes. Her brain felt like it was wading through tar as she attempted to catch up with the conversation. Even when everything was sorted and she was emailed all the details to do with the ponyta's treatment, she felt like she was watching the world from an outsider's perspective.

"Now, come, come," Wallace said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We should talk, catch up."

"Uh, sure," Misty said. She felt like there was something _off_ about it, but she had no clue what. Maybe her sisters had bumped into him and told him to watch out for her, but this felt different.

When he guided her out of the pokémon centre and she saw Steven Stone waiting on a bench in the street, she _knew_ something was up.

"Okay, _what's_ going on?" she demanded, slapping Wallace's hand away. She saw Steven stand and begin to move towards them and tried to pretend like she was not about to freak the hell out. "This is all _way_ too much, way too quick!" She scowled at Wallace, annoyed when he made no reaction. "I _seriously_ doubt you just _happened_ to overhear my conversation with the receptionist. I really don't think that it's fate or happenstance or _whatever_ that brought us together here." She glared at Steven as he stopped before them. Dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a bright red tie, he seemed more akin to a businessman about to close a deal than Hoenn's strongest trainer. Lily's _many_ lectures about makeup let her identify the foundation he was wearing to conceal the beginnings of two black eyes.

It left her with more questions that she was not afraid to ask.

"And _you_ ," Misty growled, turning to him, "what part have you got to play in all of this?"

He smiled at her in response. Everything about him was cold. Though his face bore a smile, his eyes remained distant, calculating. "I have to admit, Wallace, I had my doubts previously. Now I'm beginning to think this idea may have some merit to it."

" _What_ _idea_?" Misty shouted. "I _swear_ to whatever god you believe in, if you don't tell me what's going on right now I will beat you myself."

"Misty," Wallace said, his voice calm, "please, take a breath. You're right, we do have more at work here. Myself and Steven are on our way to visit Giovanni. When we dropped our pokémon off at the centre to heal, I did see your name booked for the pool, that I did not lie about. I told Steven we should bring you with us."

"Then _why_ ," she hissed, through gritted teeth, "did you have to be all _creepy_ about it? You could have just said something."

"There's unrest in Mount Silver," Steven said. Misty noticed the way his eyes darted around the street, as if making sure that no one would come close enough to hear their conversation. "Whatever it was in there, the two of us were not enough to take it on."

Misty felt her blood run cold. The thought of the monsters in Mount Silver were bad enough - she had grown up on the horror stories of Cerulean Cave and the fiends that dwelled within. To know that even they struggled with whatever they faced?

"What can I do to help?" she asked. "I'm not anybody."

"You're my cousin," Wallace told her. "Well, third cousin maybe?" He looked over to Steven. "Our grandmothers were cousins. What does that make us?"

"Related." Steven answered. He looked at Misty. "We know that your gym is no longer under your control. You're right - there isn't much you can do to help, not in the manner you may think. Come with us to meet Giovanni."

"I'm not sure what's going on here, but fine," Misty said. "In return though I want you both to tell me what I can do to become an Elite. I want to be stronger than a gym leader, able to do more to help people. I know there's no one method to do it, but I know I need help in doing so."

Though she addressed her request to them both, she made certain to look at Steven as she spoke. She knew that he was the one who had surpassed Elite level, he would know more of the game she would have to play.

Still, as they agreed and she followed them to the Viridian gym, she had to wonder what she was signing herself up for.

 **-0-0-0-**

Despite it being the middle of the day, the pokémon centre was unnervingly empty. The nurse that Ash had previously rescued from Team Rocket was nowhere to be found. He had tried asking the other staff on duty, but had been met with answers that they were unable to give away personal information unless he was a known family member.

It _sucked_ , because he still felt like he needed the confirmation that what he had experienced had actually happened.

Upon arriving at the pokémon centre, the nurse at the reception desk had informed him that yes, Misty had arrived with a badly injured ponyta and that she had also booked them all a room for the night. The thought of actually getting to sleep in a bed _almost_ made up for thinking everyone had abandoned him, out there in the mountains.

Not knowing where either Misty or Gary were, but taking comfort in the fact that they were all sharing a room meaning they had no intentions of abandoning him, Ash had decided to book himself into one of the training suites the pokémon centre had on offer.

The room he sat in was only as large as one of Professor Oak's lecture halls in his lab. A rough battlefield had been marked out in white paint on the sandy floor. Rather than diving in, as he so wanted to, Ash was sat on the ground, leaning his back against the door and attempting to work out what to do first.

Pikachu cooed from his position on Ash's lap, nudging the pokédex with his head. Ash smiled as he pocketed Gary's handwritten note that had been his notice about what was happening. It was so… _Gary_ to have Shadow deliver a handwritten note keeping him in the loop but also complaining about Ash's lack of a phone.

Belatedly, Ash had realised that the pokédex could also function as one. The more he played with it, the more he saw similarities between it and his mother's smartphone.

"I guess I should make sure I know what it can do, huh Pikachu?" he muttered, not quite expecting an answer. "It sure would have been helpful if Professor Oak had given me an instruction manual. Or a helpbook."

In response to his voice, his pokédex's screen lit up, presenting him with a built-in help page. Ash stared at it for a long moment, split between surprise and awe. As much as he wanted to play with it, he was honestly too exhausted to try. He knew that the moment he started reading too much, he would fall asleep.

"Well, I guess this part was never really my strong suit anyway," Ash said as he pocketed the device. He pulled free a remote control that the nurse had given him and pointed it towards the other side of the battlefield. "So what do you think, Pikachu? Shall we see what our new teammates can do?"

He pressed the large blue button on the control and felt his heart leap out of his chest when the other side of the room _screeched_ and a rhydon-shaped statue made of dirt _burst_ free of the ground.

Pikachu jumped about a foot in the air and landed roughly, cheeks sparking as he rolled back onto his feet.

"It's just the training dummy," Ash said, holding a hand over his thundering heart. "Jeez, you'd think they'd warn people about this."

Turning the control, he saw that there was a label affixed, warning trainers of the dangers of activating it around unprepared pokémon.

"Well, they could make it more obvious," he grumbled as he pocketed the device. "Well, the nurse looked at our new friends and said they're good to go, so how about we properly introduce ourselves?"

He smiled as he ran a thumb over the two new poké balls on his belt. After Shadow had delivered the note and raced back off to return to Gary, Ash had packed away the camp and raced to the pokémon centre without a second thought. Now he had a moment to actually let his brain catch up, he found it impossible to contain his glee at catching new pokémon.

Pikachu grumbled at him, annoyed at how long Ash was taking. "Sorry," Ash said with a laugh. He took a poké ball from his belt and called forth the hoothoot with a flourish.

The pokémon appeared on the ground before them, blinking its wide eyes slowly.

"Hey!" Ash said as he bent down. "So we're officially team mates now! I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu!"

The hoothoot continued to watch them silently.

"Right," Ash said slowly, wondering what he was missing when Pikachu covered his mouth with his paws and began to chuckle. "Anyway, you saw that I also caught that mankey that stole some food I wanted you to have. So I'm going to call him out next and then we can all introduce ourselves properly!"

The hoothoot answered with silence and a blink of its eyes.

"Uh…" Ash struggled to understand just _what_ that meant. Pikachu looked between them again and unable to contain it any further, collapsed on the ground in laughter. Ash put his hands out and gestured to the hoothoot. "I guess, uh, if you understand me, peck this hand," he said, lifting his left, "and if not, peck this one," he said, lifting his right.

The hoothoot turned its head slowly to the left. Ash felt a smile grow on his face. Then the hoothoot turned its head around and nipped his right fingers.

" _Ow_ ," Ash said, snatching his hand back. "I guess you don't understand, huh?"

The hoothoot gave him a look that reminded him _perfectly_ of Gary whenever Ash had said something stupid. Pikachu was chuckling as he walked over to the hoothoot and muttered something to it.

The hoothoot answered with a click of its beak. Whatever it said was enough to make Pikachu laugh again.

Belatedly, Ash caught up. " _Oh_ ," he said. "If you didn't understand you wouldn't have known to peck that hand, huh?"

Pikachu, still laughing, nodded. The hoothoot spun on the spot. Ash took it as a good sign.

"Right," he said. "Anyway, I guess next is the mankey."

He called forth the pokémon before remembering just how _angry_ the pokémon was before he caught it.

As the light formed into the shape of his pokémon, Ash cringed. He waiting for the shrieking to start.

Instead he was met by silence, and an oddly calm pokémon. The mankey walked forwards slowly, its large knuckles leaving heavy imprints on the ground.

Pikachu stopped laughing as the mankey sat down next to it and locked its feet together, much like people would rest their hands in each other.

"Well," Ash said, "I wasn't expecting that." He pulled free his pokédex and glanced at it quickly as he tried to see what it recommended for ways to train the pokémon.

He looked up as a shadow fell over him. He looked up into the mankey's red, curious eyes and followed where it was looking. Ash pressed a button on the pokédex and advanced the page. The mankey's eyes widened and it hooted, pointing at the screen.

"This tells me all about all three of you," Ash told it. The mankey looked at him with large eyes and reached slowly for the pokédex.

The hoothoot bounced forwards, beak clicking. The mankey stopped moving and looked between it and Ash, almost appearing to frown.

"I don't think you'd be able to use it," Ash said with a chuckle. Pikachu moved closer to him, not quite standing between him and the pokémon, but Ash could tell Pikachu was ready to jump in if he was needed. "I don't think you can read."

To that, the mankey hooted and made a series of wild gestures at the pokédex. Ash was lost, even more so when the hoothoot bounced over, pecked the pokédex, then turned to Pikachu and began to chirp softly.

"You… want to learn how to use it?" Ash guessed. The mankey almost seemed to cheer as it bounced up and down on the spot. Ash recalled the meowth that formed part of Team Rocket. If one pokémon could walk and talk, who was to say that other pokémon were unable to do the same? "Well, I don't see why not! We'll go over your moves now and I'll go get stuff to help to teach you how to read and write!"

Ash chuckled as the mankey hollered and bounced towards the rhydon statue. His hoothoot took to the sky and fluttered around him, whilst Pikachu looked up at him with a wide smile and almost seemed to give him a thumbs up.

Ash grinned back at him. Regardless of what Misty and Gary said, he had this training thing _down_.

 **-0-0-0-**

In stark contrast to her own experiences with her family's gym, the Viridian gym seemed strangely devoid of challengers. Rather than having an actual person manning the reception desk, Giovanni had an automated system to check a trainer's pokédex and assign slots for gym battles.

Wallace and Steven breezed through the gym's reception area and made their way towards the battlefield. Misty followed along behind them, trying not to marvel at the sights of the gym. She had never managed to venture into Viridian's gym before. Much like how her own had revolved around water, Giovanni's had been made with his pokémon in mind. Instead of tiled floors, the ground itself was left untouched, leaving the dirt beneath exposed. Misty traced her fingers along the pale white walls, noting how much they felt like sandpaper.

Glancing through the windows, she saw that Giovanni was already in the battlefield, battling a trainer no older than her. She flinched as an attack hit the safety field with enough force to make it appear before her eyes, glowing ethereal blue. She watched it buckle underneath the strain, almost seeming to _crack_ , before it rebuilt itself, fixing in an instant.

"This should be entertaining," Wallace said, smirking as he pushed open the double doors to the battlefield. Instantly Misty felt the air change. All the moisture seemed to have been sucked out of the air. She felt her eyeballs almost shrivel and dry in a moment. She wiped her face and found that her fingertips came away covered in small, sharp grains of sand.

"I so rarely get to enjoy battles that aren't on a water field," Wallace continued, as if the change in surroundings failed to bother him.

"Aside from almost all the battling we do that doesn't involve your gym," Steven said, rolling his eyes.

Misty fought the urge to sigh and instead ignored them both. She saw Giovanni stood on one side of the field, _in front_ of the safety field. His demeanour was beyond calm, almost _bored_. Fighting for him was one of the largest cubone that Misty had ever seen, standing almost up to Giovanni's waist. It spun a bone in its hands that seemed less like it came from a pokémon and more like it came from a fully grown adult human.

The trainer fighting opposite had the sense to stand behind the safety field. His hair was long, to his shoulders, and the darkest shade of red she had seen. It reminded her almost of blood. He dressed in a black shirt and slacks that seemed too large for him, as if he had dressed in his father's clothes.

Before him was a sneasel, crouched on all fours, panting for breath. The long feather that crested its head was torn and it was favouring one leg.

"Hunter!" the boy cried. "Keep your distance and freeze it!"

Misty _felt_ the temperature drop as the sneasel's mouth grew cold. She saw the air around it begin to frost with each breath it took. Crystals of ice appeared on its teeth before it fired a beam of condensed cold at the cubone.

Without a word from Giovanni, the cubone spun its bone club and _breathed fire_ over it. Spinning the whirling vortex of fire, the cubone directed the heat at the encroaching cold, leaving it nothing more than a hissing steam. With a cry the cubone threw its flaming weapon at the sneasel.

Dodging, the sneasel ran on all fours, keeping distance between them. The cubone leaped into the air, snatching its returning boomerang. It growled as it spun its weapon in mid air and brought it down on the ground with enough force to create a shockwave that made Misty stumble back a step. She felt the ground rumble. Her teeth felt like they were vibrating.

She felt her jaw drop as pillars of stone _erupted_ from the ground. The sneasel tried to dodge, leaping from pillar to pillar. As it touched them they broke apart, showering the ground in sharp, pointed stones.

With nowhere safe left to jump to, the sneasel perched on the last, unbroken pillar of stone. The cubone growled as it drove its weapon back into the ground. Misty stumbled and fell. The pillar shattered, collapsing beneath the sneasel. As the sneasel hit the floor, the remaining rubble moved, circling it. Misty watched in amazement as the fallen stones followed the cubone's movements, trapping the sneasel within.

The cubone flicked its weapon. A rock, no bigger than Misty's fist hurtled at the sneasel. It struck, impacting on its leg with enough force to make Misty flinch. It flicked its weapon again. Another rock, this one twice the size smacked against the sneasel's back. It cried out, landing on the floor heavily.

Growling, it struggled to get back to its feet. Its trainer cried out, urging it to fight. Another rock thudded against the pokémon's stomach, winding it.

"Withdraw," Giovanni said, his tone devoid of emotion. "Do not continue to make your pokémon suffer."

The challenger snarled, his fists shaking in rage. As another rock smacked into his pokémon's chest. Baring his teeth, he recalled his pokémon, snarling as he did so.

"This is why I do not battle unprepared trainers," Giovanni said, recalling his own pokémon. "That cubone is one of my weakest pokémon. I expected better of you."

"Screw you!" the trainer shouted, storming out of the battleground. As he made his way towards them, Misty looked at him, opened her mouth to say something to reassure him. Instead, he growled as he shoved her backwards, out of his way. " _Get lost_ ," he hissed, marching out of the battleground.

" _Rude_ ," Misty said, scowling in his direction. She nodded as Wallace checked if she was alright, waving off his concerns.

"Welcome," Giovanni said as he approached, moving over the gravel without a sound. "What can I do for Hoenn's Champion and one of its most prominent gym leaders?"

"We need to talk," Steven said quickly, all business. "May we talk in private?"

"Certainly," Giovanni said, as if he expected such an outcome. "I have a direct elevator to my office from this battleground, please, follow me." He turned and walked back towards his side of the battlefield. Misty followed after Wallace and Steven, watching as the ground slowly returned back to its original, untouched state. As the pillars of stone retreated into the dirt, she wondered - not for the first time - who had designed the technology that kept the gyms in such good condition.

"You will have to excuse my battling techniques," he said. As they approached the white boundary walls, he reached out and placed his hand against a hidden compartment in the wall. "My son often believes he is far stronger than he is. As my mother once taught me, humility is a trait that can lead you further than arrogance."

Misty bit her bottom lip to say nothing as they entered the elevator. Everyone had their own parenting style, she supposed. She just felt it came across as rather… _harsh_. When he had stormed out, his son had seemed _broken_ more than anything else.

The elevator arrived without a sound, opening into a brightly decorated office. Misty had expected brown walls, dotted with ancient trinkets and grandfather clocks. Instead he had a large painting of himself and his son framed, next to a picture of him posing next to his own championship team. She saw the vase of fresh red roses on his desk, with a folded note placed beside them that she could see a lipstick kiss signing it.

Glancing out of the windows, Misty saw the canopy of Viridian forest. She shuddered, thinking of the pokémon hidden within and turned away. She felt extremely out of place as she took a seat as far away as possible from the gym leader's desk. Steven and Wallace both sat on one side of the varnished, oak desk that was bigger than Misty herself. Giovanni poured himself a large glass of whiskey as he took a seat opposite them, reclining in his leather desk chair.

"So," he said, swirling his drink, "I will assume that the both of you arriving here with no prior notice means that you do not have good news."

Misty found it interesting that like Steven, Giovanni wore a black pinstripe suit. Unlike Steven, however, Giovanni wore it like it was a second skin. She could swear she could see the curvature of his muscles beneath. His hair was neatly cropped and gelled into rigidity. He tapped the golden band on his ring finger against his glass, forming a tune Misty was certain she recalled from somewhere.

"We need your help in a venture into Mount Silver," Steven said. "Yourself and the strongest trainers you have under your command. We have intelligence that leads us to believe something of great importance was buried in a settlement that exists beneath Mount Silver. When we tried to investigate, we were attacked by a great number of pokémon. Instead of trying to kill us, they seemed more intent on defending something from us. When we had killed enough of our attackers, the shadows contorted and took shape of some form of demon."

"A _demon_?" Giovanni asked, meeting their eyes. Misty could feel his disbelief washing off him. "What manner of pokémon do you think you were dealing with?"

"We don't know," Wallace answered. "Not for certain at least. How many pokémon are there that are nothing more than faded ink in a diary found in an archaeological site?"

"True. We thought the dragons of truth and ideals to be nothing more than myth, until recent events in Unova proved us wrong," Giovanni conceded. He took a swig of his drink and placed it back on a black coaster. He reached out to switch the computer monitor on his desk on. Turning the pen around, he used the bottom of it like a stylus and pressed commands on the screen of his computer. "We can leave at dawn tomorrow," he said, still focusing on his computer. "I can have some of my trainers meet us at Mount Silver's base camp with the necessary supplies we will need."

Having finished with his computer, he switched the screen back off and placed his pen back on his desk. Folding his hands on his lap, he glanced at Misty briefly. "I assume that you will not be bringing Miss Williams on our excursion?" Turning to her, he said, "I knew your father, if only through our positions as leaders. I will not patronise you by comparing you to him. Whilst I do not doubt that you are stronger than most trainers in your age range, I still doubt you would be more than a hindrance in this endeavour."

 _Ouch_ , Misty thought, managing not to flinch.

"She won't be," Wallace said quickly. "However, I brought her along today. Misty is a family member of mine. As gym leaders, we all hold secrets to do with the locations we have been sworn to protect. No matter the country we live in, this much always holds true. I do not doubt, Giovanni, that Viridian holds secrets that only yourself and the Kanto Elites are aware of."

Misty watched the way Giovanni turned back to him, nodding curtly. It was so strange to see him like this, so surreal. She had heard that he made millions by managing his own businesses before fully committing to being a pokémon trainer. She had seen him helping new trainers before and he had always been full of smiles, able to boost the confidence of any struggling trainer. Witnessing him here, she could picture him perfectly as a cutthroat boss, able to manage several businesses at once. He gave away nothing and yet, seemed to understand more than was being said.

"Very well," said Giovanni. "I will meet you both here at five a.m. tomorrow. I trust that you have your own instantaneous transport required for this trip?" As they nodded, he swallowed the last of his drink. "Very well. If that is all, then please, excuse me," he said, standing. "I had to delay a challenger to meet with you. I must return to my duties as a gym leader." With a smile, he added, "I must also inform my wife and son that I will be away for sometime. Should I spring this on them both I am confident they will not be best pleased."

"Thank you for your time, Giovanni," Wallace said, bowing elegantly as he stood. Misty tried to watch for where Giovanni left his office through, though Wallace ushered them out before she could see properly. She tried speaking with him outside of the office, though he continued to hurry her out, as if the thought of lingering left him uncomfortable. Even Steven was more silent than usual.

Instead of questioning it, Misty remained silent until they left the automated doors of the gym. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the smell of the cherry blossoms that decorated the path to the gym.

"That level of strength his pokémon had," Steven said, his voice distant. Misty looked up at him. Instead of facing her, he was watching the sky, as if searching for something. "You asked about becoming an Elite. I have seen Giovanni battle before - he was not lying when he said that cubone was his weakest pokémon. You need to be _beyond_ that." He handed her a strip of paper. Glancing at it, she frowned as she tried to make sense of the numbers, unable to fathom what it meant at first. "My number," he said, answering her unspoken question. "Feel free to ask, should you require my assistance."

"When we were still in Hoenn, I met your sisters," Wallace said, walking from the gym. Misty followed after him, keeping pace. Steven followed behind them, close enough that she could feel him behind them, yet far enough away to let them speak in relative privacy. "They told me you were still in Kanto, that you were uncertain of your path. I wanted to bring you with us to meet Giovanni, so that you could see a side of the world I doubt your parents let you see. Being a gym leader is a taxing task, one that does not just require strength of pokémon."

"I've always known that," Misty said. "I know I need to get stronger."

"Not just physically," Wallace told her. "You need to be _smarter_ , stronger mentally. I had hoped that showing you this side of our dealings may help to open your eyes and allow you to make a more informed decision. You know the perils of Mount Silver. You know that we are going in there, well aware of the danger we will face. If you want to be an Elite, you will need to do similar. By focusing on water pokémon, it will mean you will be called in to deal with threats on the ocean, even _in_ the ocean. I have had to delve into the depths of the ocean before now to investigate potential threats. You have to be comfortable dealing with the loneliness of solitude. There will be times where your pokémon are all defeated, healing, and you will be alone, with only your wits to survive. Before you commit to this path, I only ask that you make certain you know it is what you want."

"What else can I do?" Misty asked, disheartened. "My family's gym is gone. I can't just be a trainer. I'm never going to give up pokémon training - a career without pokémon isn't something I want to do. I used to dream of being a water pokémon master when I was younger. I'm being realistic by aiming to be an Elite. I know it's going to be hard. I know that I'll have my work cut out for me, but it's something I want to do - something I _need_ to do."

"Her eyes are open wider than some that have become Elites," Steven commented. "Begin by making a name for yourself," he told her. "Compete in local tournaments, challenges, make certain that people know of your battle prowess. You will also need to make certain the other gym leaders have faith in your abilities."

"I can't challenge their personal teams," Misty said, frowning. "I'm not strong enough for that. I never did a gym challenge so I'd have to start there, wouldn't I?"

"Possibly," Wallace said, "though I don't think you need to be limited to the normal rules. You're a stronger trainer than most. Challenge gyms, request their eight badge teams. But also ask the leaders if they need help locally. We often employ the help of our gym trainers or those trainers of a suitable calibre to deal with tasks that we cannot. If you start those jobs, you'll begin to make the leaders rely on you. Do that, and they may ask you for favours. Do those…"

"And I'll be able to cash in favours later on," Misty finished, connecting the dots. "I didn't realise how much politics there would be in this."

"Better start learning," Wallace said, smirking. "Here." He handed her a note, his own number written on it. "If we are to leave tomorrow morning, we must begin our own preparations now. I do hate to leave you on such short notice, Misty, but duty does call." As she took the note he hugged her, rubbing her head in a way she tried not to scowl at. "Contact me if you need anything."

"Sure," Misty said. She glanced at them both, watching the way they seemed to share a conversation without words. "Is that it then? No big farewell? No hoards of screaming fans begging for your autographs?"

"Not today," Wallace said, laughing. "If we're to leave at daybreak tomorrow, we have other business to attend to first." Grabbing a poké ball, he released his slowking. Misty smiled when the pokémon looked over at her and waved. Apparently it remembered her - it was, after all, one of the offspring of her father's prize slowbro. "Text me. Let me have your number. I'll be certain to contact you once this is all done."

"Come to Hoenn sometime," Steven said. He moved past her to place his hand on the slowking's shoulders. "We're almost entirely _water_ based, you should enjoy it there."

Something about his tone tipped Misty off. "You're having problems with water trainers there, aren't you?"

"Nothing yet," he answered, glancing at Wallace. "But there is an undercurrent - pardon the pun - that feels familiar to the Plasma fiasco sometime back. We're keeping an eye on it for now, but who knows what the future will hold." He looked back at Misty, meeting her eyes. "Make a name for yourself. Let the world know that you are not to be walked over, not to be trifled with."

"Oh, and protip," Wallace said quickly, "whatever your favourite drink is, make sure you always have some of that to hand. If you get photographed holding something often enough, the company will give you a lifetime supply for all the advertisement you've done for them." He winked. "Worked for me. Now, farewell for now, dear cousin."

"Wait, just one thing before you go," Misty said quickly, reaching out towards them. "Just why did you feel like bringing me to see Giovanni? You could have done that without me. You said it's to show me a side of gyms I didn't know about, but that's not really it, is it?"

"Giovanni is a strong trainer, with ties in almost everything you can imagine," Steven said. "Don't let him see you showing weakness."

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"The new Cerulean gym leader seems to be an ally of his," Wallace said. "He had pushed for some time that both yourself and Brock were too young to function as Gym Leaders. Whilst Brock had the protection of family in the Elites, you didn't. I wanted him to see that you're not broken, and maybe help you see that losing the gym was not your fault."

"I…" Misty found her mouth had dried up as if in an instant. "I don't know what to say to that."

"Sometimes silence is the best thing you can say," said Steven.

Misty searched for an answer to that, struck dumb. As they vanished in a flash of light, she sighed and pulled out her phone, entering their numbers and sending them both a text. Gary had text to say that Shadow had delivered a note to Ash and returned successfully. The pokémon centre's systems had also alerted her that Ash had checked in to their room, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. It felt like as one problem was solved, another was created.

Sending a quick message to her sisters to let them know she had met Wallace, she decided that rather than heading back into town, she would head towards the forests north of Viridian. She shuddered as the trees began to grow taller, as the ground beneath her feet turned from concrete to hard dirt. The path grew more narrow. The trees seemed closer, their branches almost reaching out to touch her. She shuddered, picturing all the bugs hidden within. It was a stupid fear, an irrational idiotic one, yet still one she could not shake.

Seeing the ranger's checkpoint ahead, Misty decided that she had ventured far enough. Any further and she would well and truly be in the forest. As much as she wanted to face her fears, it felt like too much, too soon. Turning, she glanced upwards and happened to see a flash of red in the trees. Frowning, she moved towards it, wondering what sort of pokémon it could be.

As it turned out, it was a person.

"Hey," Misty called. "I remember you. You're Giovanni's son, aren't you?"

The boy turned to look down at her, a scowl on his face. He held onto the trunk of the tree with one hand, his other balancing him on the branch he sat on. She saw that he had a poké ball in his lap and found herself wondering what other pokémon he may have.

"What do you want?" he snarled. Her interest in his pokémon vanished in an instant. "Did my father send you? Tell him you couldn't find me."

"Actually, _no_ , your father didn't send me," Misty growled. "I was _attempting_ to be _nice_. I'll be sure not to make that mistake with you again."

 _Rude_ , she thought once more, storming away from him. Sure, she may have thought that Giovanni's methods for training him were a little harsh, but that gave him no right to be such a condescending little _twerp_. In fact-

"Hey!"

She spun on her heel, eyes narrowing as he shuffled down the tree trunk and jumped the last few feet to the ground. He walked slowly along the path towards her, his eyes focused on the ground.

"I'm sorry," he said, not looking at her. "For shoving you earlier."

"That's it?" Misty tried her best not to lose her temper. He was trying, at least. "Nothing else you want to apologise for?"

His head snapped up, his cheeks flaring as red as his hair. "Maybe I would apologise for the rest if you would let me." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed forcefully, as if trying to reign all his emotions under control. "Look, I'm sorry. Father… well he has the habit of putting me in the worst possible mood. I always feel weak compared to him, worthless. It makes me wonder why I bother training pokémon at all."

"Hey, don't be like that," Misty said. "Your father is one of the strongest gym leaders in Kanto. Most trainers with badges would struggle to battle him - in fact, lots get beaten so badly they don't even bother with his gym. They go elsewhere, just so they stand a better chance. Have you tried talking to him at all?"

The boy snorted. "Because that would work so well. My father doesn't listen to anyone other than my mother and his three stooges he has that run his businesses for him. He likes to remind me that if I don't have power, I will always be doing someone else's bidding."

"That's a stupid way of looking at things," Misty muttered. "Anyway, it's fine. You're forgiven for being such a _butt_. I know what it's like to have family that treat you harsher than you'd want. My sisters always used to call me _the runt_ because I wasn't as pretty as them, or as good with pokémon."

"My father calls me Silver," the boy said, scowling. "Because I'm always second-best."

"What an ass," Misty said. "Well anyway, I'm Misty."

"I know who you are," Silver said. "Father has mentioned your gym before. He likes to use it as an example about not being strong enough."

"Not strong enough?" Misty snarled. "I was _ten_! How the _hell_ was I meant to keep battling trainers? My sisters and I had _no training_ on how to run a gym. We were just thrown in the deep end and expected not to drown! It's a wonder we lasted as long as we did!"

She sucked in a breath, forcing herself to relax as she saw the way Silver's eyes widened. "Sorry," she said quickly. "It's a sore subject."

Silver was quiet for a moment, watching her in a way that made her feel like she was an exhibition at an art gallery. When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut across her. "You're intent on proving yourself as well?"

"I've got no other choice," Misty admitted. "I'm going to start by going to Pewter. If I do the traditional gym circuit I'll go to all the gyms and meet the leaders. I need to prove myself, make people know that I'm not just the baby of Kanto's latest failed gym."

"In that case, I may see you along the way," Silver said, meeting her eyes. "I'm going to run away. I'm going to take on the Kanto gyms and prove to my father - to myself that I am stronger than he makes me feel."

"Are you sure running away is the only option? What about your mother?"

"She's barely at home anyway," Silver spat. "Both of my parents work non-stop." He plucked his poké ball from his pocket and held it in both his hands, cradling it to his chest. "My sneasel is almost the only family member I truly have. It's always been me and him. I don't see why we don't just start travelling anyway."

On the one hand, Misty knew that running away from home was one of the worst ideas. He could die if he was unprepared, or the police could chase after him and he could get hurt, or he could even end up missing, lost to the world, never to be seen again.

"Do whatever you think is best," she found herself saying. "When I was ten, I ran away for a few months, to get away from the gym. It probably didn't help with our reputation but… the pressure was too much. I wanted to pretend that I was just a normal kid, that I could do everything anyone else could do. I went back eventually, when I heard how badly our gym was really doing, but if you're as unhappy as you say you are at home…" She shrugged. "Then maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea."

"Strange," Silver said, smiling. "I thought you would tell me to stay. Be the good gym leader and tell me that everything would get better."

"A gym leader is meant to help people," she said. "What helps one person might not be helpful for another." She pulled out her phone and handed it to him. "Here. Put your number in my phone. That way I can contact you, check in and know that you're alright. If you want, I'm travelling now anyway. We can always go together."

"Thank you," Silver said, typing on her phone. "But I think this is something I need to do on my own. If I travelled with you, Father would say that I coasted on your abilities. If I'm to travel, to prove myself, I need to do it on my own. Perhaps afterwards?"

"Sure," Misty said, taking back her phone. She glanced at the name he'd entered and frowned. "Really? You sure you want me to call you Silver?"

He smirked at her. "Father has used that moniker to insult me for as long as I can remember. I'll use it and prove him wrong. Should you wish, my actual name is Markus."

"I'll go with Markus," Misty said, smiling. "At least so you won't be stuck in your own head all the time, comparing yourself to your father's words."

"That's nice of you. I'm not sure I deserve your kindness, with the way that I've treated you." He sighed as he shook his head. "Are you returning to town? I could walk back with you, if you don't mind?"

Misty glanced back, in the direction of Viridian. "Not yet I'm not," she said. She could feel her heart race as the idea formed in her mind. "I've spent my day doing so many things. I've rescued a ponyta that got injured, plotted the future with my best friend, gotten life advice from my cousin and his best friend, been amazed by your father's skills as a trainer and now spoken to you. It's made me realise how much I'm using other people's problems to ignore my own. I keep telling myself that I'll do something, but I keep putting it off." She sucked in a breath and puffed out her chest. "I need to start _doing_. I'm scared senseless of bugs. Always have been. I'm going to train until the sun sets, and I'm going to do it past the ranger's checkpoint, surrounded by bugs.

"So thank you, but not this time." Misty smiled at him as she brushed past him. "We'll meet again, on the road somewhere. I'll be sure to challenge you next time. It'll be nice to have some friendly competition, especially in another person who comes from a gym leader's family." She took Jasmine's poké ball from her belt and called forth her pokémon, using her familiar touch to calm her nerves. "Take care, Markus. I'll see you soon."

"Sure," he said, nodding. "Take care, Misty."

She turned and forced herself towards the forest, one step at a time. Jasmine, sensing her growing fear, stayed close to her legs, mewling constantly. Misty appreciated the effort her pokémon went through. One day, she would be able to venture through insect infested locations alone, without screaming. Until then she would rely on her pokémon, as much as they relied on her.

"Come on Jasmine," she said, swallowing her nerves. "We're going to face one of my fears."

 **-0-0-0-**

If they could speak, Ash's muscles would have cried out in relief as he collapsed into a plastic chair in the pokémon centre's canteen. His back felt like it was _saturated_ with sweat. When he lifted his arms he could feel his shirt _peeling_ off his skin.

"I guess this is something I'm going to have to get used to," he muttered. He stared at the plate of food in front of him and felt his appetite retreat. Usually whenever he saw food he turned into the human equivalent of a garbage truck. Faced with the tasteless, almost _solid_ scrambled eggs, he found himself dreaming about his mother's cooking and wishing she could just appear and whip him up a meal.

Pikachu cooed from his lap. His paws were wrapped tightly around a bottle of ketchup, which made Ash groan upon noticing it. It was _not_ going to end well. Instead of fighting his pokémon for the condiment, Ash elected to sip at his hot chocolate and boot up his pokédex once again.

His pokémon had made good progress so far, even with the small amount of time they had been training for. He had left them both with the nurses for further healing, just to make sure they were properly healed for tomorrow. After so long in Viridian, Ash was itching to get out and go exploring.

Misty had only booked their room for just the one night. He assumed that meant they would be leaving in the morning, so he was content just to wait for a little bit longer. If they decided to stay, or go on without him, then as much as Ash would be upset about continuing on his own, he felt more confident in his ability to survive.

Fidgeting in the uncomfortable white plastic chair, Ash took another sip of his drink. The walls were the same pale shade of off-white as his eggs. It made forcing himself to eat them even more difficult.

He glanced up, looking around the relatively empty canteen. What few trainers there were had each taken a table to themselves, other than the group of teenagers in the corner. Ash had considered approaching someone, talking to them and getting their opinion on… well, _anything_ , if he was honest with himself. He was so used to having Misty around, sharing her knowledge.

Even Gary, though they had spent less time spent together in comparison, had still been able to make Ash's nerves easier to ignore. The other trainers sat on their own had seemed content with their solitude, pointedly ignoring Ash when he had walked past.

"You'll get fat if you keep eating that," Ash said, looking down at Pikachu. His pokémon looked up at him, eyes wide, ears pinned backwards. He looked so genuinely hurt that Ash felt guilty and apologised instantly. The hurt vanished from Pikachu's face instantly, replaced with a smirk that reminded Ash profusely of Gary's smugness.

"Hey!" Ash grunted. "No teasing like that! You can't play innocent all the time and get what you want."

In response, Pikachu looked up at him with an innocent expression. "Yeah right," Ash said, snorting. "I'm not falling for that twice in a row. Just for that, you've lost your sugar rights." Before his pokémon could react, Ash swiped the ketchup bottle and placed it well out of his reach. His pikachu cried out with such a pained sound that the other people in the canteen looked over, staring straight at them. Ash laughed nervously as Pikachu tried to climb from his lap and reclaim the ketchup bottle.

"Your pikachu really knows how to pull your strings," a voice said, laughing. Ash looked up sharply, surprised to see a boy the same age as him smiling at him. "You both seem really happy together."

"We are," Ash said, gently plucking Pikachu from the table and holding him back in his lap. "When _someone_ can behave that is." He sighed as he scooped up a forkful of egg and presented it to his pokémon. He knew that he was just making matters worse in the long run - he had coated the eggs in ketchup himself just to give them some flavour. Still, it drew his pokémon's attention away from the entire bottle.

Ash smiled at the boy, intrigued by the sense of familiarity he felt. The boy's brown hair was long and dishevelled - Ash was certain there was a _leaf_ poking out from beneath his blue and yellow cap. Ash glanced at his food tray, his attention caught by the bright red, familiar machine.

"You got a pokédex too?" Ash said, grinning. "You must have started from Pallet too!" He gestured for the boy to take a seat opposite him. "I'm Ash."

"Ritchie," the boy said, sitting opposite him. He smiled as Pikachu cooed, wrapping his paws around the fork and forcing Ash to hold it in place. "I thought most people would have moved past Viridian by now."

Ash shrugged. "Pikachu and I got into some trouble with the local spearow, so we've ended up staying round here for longer. I don't really mind so much because I've managed to catch two pokémon so far, but I'm really ready to go soon. Has everyone else from Pallet really left already?"

"The ones I've spoken to have," Ritchie confirmed. "I think Professor Oak had about thirty people that got starters on the day we did. I played around with my pokédex and found that the league websites update with names and dates of challengers that have beaten gyms." He sighed as he glanced at the other trainers in the canteen and focused back on his food, poking his potatoes with a distant expression. "Do you ever feel like we're in a bit over our heads? Everyone else just seems so smart, like they've got everything sorted already."

"Sometimes," Ash confessed. He placed his fork back on the table and began to massage Pikachu's head, rubbing behind both his ears. His pokémon seemed to melt at his touch, groaning and falling limp in his lap. "But well… I only met Pikachu a week ago. I started off comparing myself to everyone until I realised; they've all been around pokémon longer than I have. Everyone else has had years to learn everything they know, so no wonder why they seem smarter than me." He shrugged and found himself smiling. "It doesn't mean that I'm stupid though. It just means that I have plenty of people - of friends - to learn from."

He noticed Ritchie matched his expression. Happily, he added, "I used to always think Gary was a jerk. He still is a jerk. But now I can see where he came from a bit better. Everything I'm learning now, he learnt ages ago. Same with Misty - another one of my friends. I'm happy that they're willing to help me learn and share what they know. Sure, it's annoying when they talk to me like I'm stupid, but it just means that I can prove them wrong." Noticing Pikachu had fallen asleep, he grinned and rested his hands on the table. "I want to be a pokémon master - I know that it won't happen overnight. In time, I know I'll be stronger than all of them. My mom always used to tell me that if something isn't hard work, then it isn't a worthy enough goal."

"Huh," Ritchie said, blowing on his own hot chocolate. "My mom always said something similar too."

"I know my mom used to say it because she owns her own restaurant," Ash said, grinning. "She told me all about how she started off in a market selling hot food until she got enough money to rent a building. She runs _Ketchum Kuisine_ , on _5-ban 3-gō_."

"Really?" Ritchie grinned back at him. "My mom owns a hairdressers on _5-ban 21-gō_. That's just round the corner! We would eat there at the end of the month. It's the one with the mr. mime chefs, isn't it?"

"That's right!" Ash found the smile impossible to keep off his face. Pikachu stirred in his lap, enough for him to keep his voice down. "That's why you look familiar; I must have seen you around."

"Must have!" Ritchie matched his smile. "Hey, my charmander's healing at the moment and he won't be finished until tomorrow morning. Shall we go find some real food in the meantime?"

Ash laughed, rousing Pikachu from his sleep. "I swear, it's like you read my mind."


	4. Rivals - III

When Gary woke, he had to fight not to just roll over and bury his face in the thin, stiff pillows of his pokémon centre bed. He groaned as he pushed himself up and opened his eyes to find that daylight was already creeping through the curtains.

He moaned and pressed the balls of his palms into his eyes. What was supposed to be a quick nap had apparently transformed into an entire night of sleep. Groggily, he pushed himself off his bed and stumbled towards their shared bathroom.

Twenty minutes and a quick shower later, Gary walked back into the bedroom, drying his hair with a towel. When he arrived back in their shared room the night before, Misty and Ash had yet to return. Misty was still sleeping, curled up beneath her blanket, cuddling a stuffed psyduck doll. Ash had clearly slept in his bed, though had left without waking either of them up. His bed was still a mess and his bedsheets were kicked to the floor. Gary snorted, thankful that Ash had taken a bottom bunk. Had Misty been sleeping on the bottom, there would have been hell to pay had she been woken by things falling in her face.

Wherever Ash had gotten to, he clearly had no plans of staying there for long. He had left his backpack in the middle of his bed, in front of which he had left a note that took Gary an obscene amount of effort to decipher. It told them that he would be back soon, and that he had decided to go out training as he was having trouble sleeping.

It seemed that Ash was working quickly to overcome his shortcomings. Gary could appreciate how much effort he was already putting into his training career, though a jaded part of him wondered how long he would be able to continue it for.

Gary pushed the thoughts aside as he begun to pack as quickly as as quietly as he could. He knew that Misty would be disappointed to learn that he had left whilst she slept and he supposed Ash would be too. It was easier for him, however, to leave whilst they were asleep. Gary wanted to make tracks, to distance himself from them. Company was nice every so often, but he had always found that surrounding himself with people distracted him, never letting him complete the goals he wanted.

Leaving a note for Misty on the dresser, he crept out of the room and shut it silently behind him. He dropped the room key back off at reception, smiling to himself as he left the pokémon centre. The crisp, cool air of the morning drifted across his skin, making him shudder, despite the long, red sleeves of his shirt. He called Shadow to his side, smirking as he grabbed his bag with one hand, sliding his other into his jeans pocket.

"Come on, Shadow," he said. "We're heading towards Pewter. We've got some training to do on the way. I'm not gonna lie - it'll be tough. I need to push you guys more and more. We're going to be Champions, Shadow. We can't allow any weakness."

Shadow bumped his head against Gary's leg, grunting in agreement. "Awesome," Gary said. "Guess we're heading to the forest."

He hummed to himself as they walked through the streets of Viridian. Sticking to the pavements, Gary marvelled at the way the blocks changed. Closer to the gym, he saw trainers already making their way in and out of the city. As he cut through the financial district, he saw instead the way workers would glance at him and his pokémon, as if they were beneath their standing. Gary strode past them all, unflinching, daring them to say something. He laughed to himself as they made their way past men and women in suits and smart dress, each of them going out of their way to avoid the trainer and his pokémon.

He supposed that a better person, a nicer person may have wondered why they treated him with such obvious disdain. Gary, however, had heard enough lectures from his grandpa about the way the world had changed. Events in Unova had resulted in a war that had finished just as quickly as it had begun. The resulting tensions between trainers and non-trainers were clearly still there, lingering beneath the surface. If he was to be the Champion, he would have to address that.

Playing with his pokédex, Gary barely noticed as the city began to fade away. He saw Shadow bounce through grass that reached Gary's knees and blinked, looking up from his planning. He scowled, angry at himself for not paying enough attention. What sort of trainer was he, if he failed to even notice when he moved out of a city and into the wilds?

Shadow yipped, drawing his attention. His eevee grabbed the hem of his jeans, dragging him to the west, off the path Gary wanted to follow. Frowning, he had no choice but to obey his pokémon's demands.

The trees seemed to thin out at the sides, almost seeming to form a natural clearing. The gravel path vanished, replaced instead with a well-trodden route through grass that brushed against Gary's legs. His ears pricked at the sounds of voices, as too did Shadow's. His eevee bounced up, barking happily.

 _Of course_ , he groaned to himself, seeing just who his pokémon was happy to see. _You played with him once and you're best friends._

"Gary!" Ash shouted, smiling as he waved. Gary sighed, smiling back and trudged towards him, kicking dirt as he went. He would have liked to have been near the ranger's outpost now, about to go into the deepest, darkest parts of Viridian's forest. Out there, where even the rangers feared to tread, he would be able to really push his team to the limits.

For the first time, he noticed Ash's companion and smirked to himself. Of course Ritchie and him would have found a way to meet each other. They were so similar, so _offensively_ optimistic.

"Hey Shadow!" Ash laughed as he bent down to play with the eevee. His pikachu jumped down from his shoulders and sniffed the new pokémon, sparks dancing across his cheeks in a curious manner. Gary watched as the pokémon, apparently content with the lack of perceived threat from each other, relaxed and sat beside each other, talking in a series of growls he could never hope to understand.

"Oh, Gary!" Ash said suddenly, standing back up. He spun around on the spot, somehow nearly tripping over his own feet. Some distance behind him, Ritchie had sat himself down in the tall grass, as if hiding from them both. Gary scowled, wondering just what his problem was. Ritchie flinched, as if Gary's mood had struck him physically.

"Do you know Ritchie?" Ash continued, oblivious. "He's from Pallet too!"

"We've met," Gary said, cordially. "We got our starter pokémon from my grandpa at the same time." He tilted his head in Ritchie's direction. "Good battle the other day. You and your charmander doing okay?"

"Yeah, we're getting there." Ritchie fidgeted constantly, almost like he was uncertain about being the centre of attention. "Zippo's got a bit of a temper on him, but I seem to be getting it under control."

"I'm not surprised," Gary said. "Gramps usually breeds all the starters from his own team. His charizard is _still_ an arrogant old lizard. Apparently genes can carry over personality traits. Anyway," he said, tapping his leg. Shadow's ears perked, pointing in his direction. "I should probably get going. Misty's still sleeping and I've left her to it. I want to make tracks and _is that a mankey writing_?"

He blinked, unable to believe his own eyes. In fact, he could barely understand how he had managed to _completely_ overlook such a sight.

A mankey, completely ordinary looking in every regard, was sat behind Ash, nestled in between two rucksacks, legs crossed and a book in one hand, a pen in the other.

"Oh, yeah!" Ash said, grinning. He squatted down next to the mankey and patted it on the head. Gary flinched and threw his arm up to protect his face. He had heard the horror stories about that pokémon. Yet nothing happened. There was no screaming, no bloody murder, no missiles made of faeces. In fact, Gary saw as he opened his eyes, the mankey seemed to be _enjoying_ it.

"This is my mankey," Ash said. "I caught him when you and Misty ended up dealing with that coach crash." He pulled a pellet of pokémon food from his jacket pocket and handed it to the pokémon. It took it, eerily calm as is continued to stare at the pages of the book. "I haven't thought of a name for him yet though. He didn't seem to like anything so far."

Gary could hear the words coming in his ears, yet his brain seemed unable to register them. Instead it focused on one single, obvious point. "That mankey. It's _reading_."

"It surprised me too," Ritchie said. "I thought they were all bad tempered and angry."

"Not my mankey!" Ash said with a laugh. "He just wants food. So long as I keep him fed, he's happy."

"I… uh…" Gary felt like words were an impossible concept to understand. His eevee returned to his side, bumping against his leg as if to check that he was still functioning. "How long have you been teaching it this for?"

"Since this morning. Well, yesterday was when we got the idea and started it, but this morning was when I managed to give him the book and the pen and let him start writing too."

" _Since this morning_?" Gary could feel his brain spinning in circles. "That's… that's just… I need to ring my grandpa." He pressed a hand to his head and had to take a deep breath. "I just… that's a really smart idea, Ash. How… how did you even get it to listen to you?"

"Oh that was easy," Ash said. "I caught a hoothoot as well. She's really smart, so I had her translate everything for me."

"I just…" Gary was certain the world was spinning. "I think I need to lie down." He took a deep breath and held it, waiting for clarity to return. "Ash, you should let my grandpa know about what you've done. He'd be interested to know about it. Just out of curiosity's sake, why are you teaching your mankey to read?"

"He wanted to learn," Ash said, shrugging. He made it sound like his reasoning was obvious, like it was a situation that everyone would experience. "Or if we get separated, or if I'm using him to scout ahead or anything really, so he can let me know properly. I thought it might be useful."

 _I can't believe I never thought of doing something like that._

Gary ground down the thoughts before they could fester. Gramps did like to remind him that no matter someone's intelligence, there was always someone better, and always someone worse. For the first time, the old man's lectures about trying to not always follow the obvious thought path began to make sense.

"Right," Gary said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm actually gonna head off now. Look after Misty for me, will you Ash? I'll see you somewhere along the road."

"Wait right there Gary! We need to battle! Two on two, right here, right now! We'll have the battle you wanted yesterday!"

Gary sighed as he turned back around, facing Ash. "Really?" he asked, yawning. "Ash, we only just battled _yesterday_. Give it some time."

"You're just chicken," Ash threw back, tucking his arms beneath his armpits, bending his elbows and flapping his arms. "Gary _Chicken_ Oak."

"Why don't we all battle?" Ritchie said, surprising Gary. Honestly, he had forgotten that he was even still there with them. "Ash and I can battle you, Gary," he said, looking at him. "A double battle, right? We'll use one each, and you can use two."

He had to admit, it did sound like a good idea. Plus it would get his team in some good teamwork training in the process. "Alright," he said, "you're on." Grabbing two poké balls from his belt, he walked away from them both until there was ample distance between them. Shaking his head as Shadow began to paw at the ground, he threw both of his poké balls forwards. "Let's see how you like these two then!"

He smirked as his squirtle and spearow appeared in a flash of light. Glancing around, Gary nodded at them when they looked at him. "Double battle guys. I need you both to work together."

He saw the realisation appear in both their eyes. Being the smarter of the two, his squirtle dropped to all fours immediately, moving into a fighting stance. His spearow, following the lead, flew higher, circling them.

Gary was unsurprised when Ritchie called his charmander forth. In fact, he doubted that he had even caught anything else yet. Still, he had to admit that the lizard looked imposing. He stood nearly as tall as Ritchie, coming up to his shoulder. His scales were a dark, fiery orange, his claws the colour of midnight sky.

When Ash called forth his pokémon, Gary knew it had to be his hoothoot. The bird, however, was entirely _not_ what Gary had been expecting. Where Ritchie's charmander was large for its species, Ash's hoothoot would have been the runt in any nest. It was small - smaller than most common pidgey - and one of the thinnest of its kind Gary had seen. What stood out most, however, was the colour of its feathers, almost sparkling gold in the sun.

 _Of course_ , Gary thought, scowling to himself. He glanced at his eevee and rolled his eyes. He thought he had been the lucky one, to find a genetic variant. Ash had done so too, though the colour comparison was not lost on Gary.

He took a breath, forced himself to think. Hoothoot were speedy, long ranged attackers. Charmander could fight in both quarters. He could play the defensive, maybe prepare for further attacks.

"Hoothoot! Peck the spearow!"

"Zippo, scratch the squirtle!"

 _That's not -_

Gary scowled. "Donnie! Tuck and roll! Talon, outspeed it!"

His squirtle tucked itself into its shell. Claws hard enough to break rock sliced down against it, blunted by the impact. The charmander reared back, baring its fangs, growling. At the same time, his spearow sped up, almost blurring through the sky. Gary could barely keep track of it. The hoothoot squawked as it tried to keep up, pounding its smaller wings furiously.

"Now spin away!" Gary shouted. "Talon, give Donnie some room - dive bomb the charmander!"

His squirtle, tucked in its shell, began to spin. Gary heard Ash and Ritchie cry out commands. He tried his best to tune them both out. Though he had told Ash that listening to an opponent's commands could clue you into their strategy, he was still too new to trainer battling to try so.

Zippo cried out as the spinning squirtle hurtled away from him. With the open opportunity, Talon shot down from the sky, wings aglow with energy. Unable to escape in time, Zippo took a glowing wing to the back. He screeched as he flew face first into the dirt. Still following Talon, the hoothoot shrieked and charged after the spearow, its eyes aglow with psychic energy.

At Gary's command, Donnie emerged from his shell on all fours, growling. He reared back and spit out a stream of bubbles that exploded on contact with anything. Craters were left in the dirt where they made contact. Zippo retreated, snarling, protecting its tail. The hoothoot weaved through the assault, right into Talon's path. The spearow descended on it, slashing at it with its taloned feet. At Ash's command the hoothoot slammed its tiny body into the spearow, knocking it backwards, giving it some space to breathe.

Talon soared into the sky, keeping the sun behind it. Zippo looked up and was blinded by the sun. Taking his chance, Donnie raced forward and threw himself at the charmander, tackling it to the ground. As the hoothoot tried to interfere, Talon descended, squawking, feathers puffed out threateningly. The charmander screamed as Donnie bit down on his shoulder hard enough to draw blood. Rearing back, the squirtle smashed his skull into Zippo's head, dazing the charmander. Above them, the birds continued to battle, tackling each other repeatedly, biting with their beaks, slashing with their claws.

Zippo tried a point blank burst of fire. Donnie ducked his head back into his shell, avoiding it completely. The fire continued upwards. Gary's spearow, caught completely unaware, was consumed by the flames in seconds. Gary heard the screams, smelt the burning feathers and recalled his pokémon, scowling.

In retaliation, his squirtle grabbed the charmander's head and bashed it against the floor until it was knocked out. Grunting to itself, it rolled off Zippo as Ritchie recalled him, ignoring the trainer to glare at the remaining pokémon fluttering above it.

"It's just you and me now!" Ash shouted, drawing Gary's attention. "Me and my hoothoot will put you down!"

Gary tried not to roll his eyes at him. Ash's tactics were simple; rush in, attack and beat the opponent unconscious. Typical glass cannon. Worse still that he tried with a pokémon that excelled at long range attacks rather that physical strength.

"Now hoothoot! Tackle it again!"

Gary tried not to roll his eyes. "Tuck and defend!" His squirtle pulled his body into his shell again, hiding beneath the hard shell. Any hoothoot would not have the strength to break it. Gary smiled to himself. All he had to do was have his pokémon hide, tucked away safely and tire the hoothoot out. It was just a matter of picking the right time and -

"Alright! Now get in close whilst it's in its shell and put it to sleep!"

 _What._

"Crap!" Gary hissed. The hoothoot dove to the ground, eyes glowing white. Gary panicked, screaming for his pokémon to run. Donnie's stubby legs emerged from his shell. The hoothoot landed atop Donnie's shell, claws placed on either side of its head. It peered down into the shell, eyes still glowing.

With nowhere left to retreat to, his squirtle fell asleep in seconds. Scowling, Gary acknowledged the inevitable and withdrew his pokémon.

"Alright!" Ash cheered, leaping into the air. His pikachu copied him precisely, down to punching the air in celebration. "Take that, Gary! Who's the best now?"

"You got lucky, Ash," Gary shouted back. He glanced down at Shadow, watching the way his pokémon looked back up at him, tail wagging back and forth slowly. Gary could almost hear his grandpa's voice in his ears, telling him that he thought too much, that he let his confidence get the better of him.

"Guess we better train harder," he whispered, making certain only his eevee could hear him. "Hey Ash!" he shouted, grinning at the other trainer. "Guess we're even! Next time we meet, we'll have to have a deciding match!"

"You're not staying?" Ash looked crestfallen at that. His hoothoot, barely even the size of his head, was perched on his shoulder, grooming his tangled hair. "I thought if we battled you might change your mind."

"Nope, I'm still going," Gary said. He cleared the space between them and shrugged theatrically. "Not much of a trainer if I don't train and try to get some badges. I want to get to Pewter before the week's out. If you're both serious about getting to the League, you should think about getting a move on too."

"I'll probably leave soon," Ritchie said. He looked at the floor, biting his lip. "I mean, maybe. Zippo and I need to get stronger, and I think we need another teammate." He looked up and glanced to Ash. "I think… I think I need to do that on my own. It's like you said before Ash; I can't keep comparing myself to other people. I think if I'm on my own for a bit, it might help."

"You're both leaving?" Ash whispered, sad. "I guess… I guess it happens. That just means next time we all meet, we should all battle again!" He placed his hand between them all. "What do you say?"

"Sure!" Ritchie agreed instantly, placing his hand atop Ash's.

"What about you, Gary?"

Seeing the hopeful looks in their eyes, Gary was torn between joining their innocence or ruining it.

"Whatever, losers," he said, turning and flipping his hair. "I don't need some big gesture of happy teammates to battle you both again. Just make sure you both look after my grandpa's pokémon. And Ash!" he said over his shoulder, turning to scowl at him. "Make sure you look after Misty. She's strong, but she needs more people she can trust."

"Of course," Ash said, as if he had never considered doing anything else. As Gary began to walk away, back towards the path to Viridian's dense forests, Ash called after him, "Don't forget! Next time I'll show you I'm better than you!"

Gary said nothing, instead chuckling as he waved goodbye. With Shadow bouncing around his ankles, he dialled a number from memory and pressed his phone to his ear before it began to ring.

"Hey Gramps," he said the moment it was answered, "you better be sitting down right now, because _boy_ do I have some mind-blowing stuff to tell you."

 **-0-0-0-**

" _Bugsy Sighted in Kanto - Just What Could-"_

" _Trainers Hate Her! Watch How This 87-"_

" _Mono-type Tournaments, Coming to a City Near You!"_

" _Saffron's Sabrina, Showing that Psychic is the New Sexy!"_

" _I Left My Fiancé for a Machoke!"_

"Oh. My. _God_." Misty closed her eyes and for a very, _very_ long moment, considered the notion of simply throwing her pokédex into the stream and pretending that the world's trashy news stories would drown and never surface again. "And this is why I never click on anything you send me."

"Like, _chill_ , Double-Em. I obviously wouldn't send you something that's like, _complete_ trash."

"No, only _mostly_ trash," Misty growled. She laid down on the grassy bank and let her toes dip into the stream. She could hear the magikarp as they broke the water's surface, looking for food. The water's current created a background noise that let her pretend she was miles away from her problems.

"And don't think I didn't notice _that_ name being thrown in there," she muttered. Sitting back up, she pulled her phone from the ground and glared into the camera. The smiling, ever-outwardly-carefree face of her sister beamed back at her. Behind her bleach-blonde hair, Misty could see palm trees slowly swaying in the breeze. Whilst normally Misty would question why anyone would be on the beach at night, she knew better than to ask where Daisy was concerned. She was, and always would be, a sucker for cocktails on the beach.

"Well, easier than saying _Moody Misty_ all the time," Daisy said with a laugh. She moved the camera, giving Misty ample view of Daisy's bartender. He was tanned, ripped and looked like he had just been plucked from the cover of a modelling magazine. She rolled her eyes and tried to hide her blush as the camera moved back. "Like, _anyway_ , it was an old article analysing wave patterns and it said that there was an old ship near the remains of Sea Mauville."

Misty leant towards the phone, her heart racing, her mouth dry. "And you think it might be-"

"It's not the _Libra_ ," Daisy said quickly. She took a sip of her drink - and it was decorated with a tiny pink umbrella, because of _course_ it _had_ to be - and burped so suddenly that she almost dropped the phone in shock.

Misty stared back at the phone for a long moment before managing to smile. "Seven out of ten."

"Seven? _Gosh_ , like give me _some_ credit, that was at _least_ an eight." Laughing, Daisy took another sip of her drink through the luminous green straw before placing it back out of sight. "Anyway, we're all going to look at Sea Mauville tomorrow and see what we can find. They used to make the ships there, so maybe we'll like, find a working deep sea scanner or something to help us look."

"Hopefully," Misty said distantly. "Anyway, how is Hoenn? I bumped into _Wallace_ yesterday."

"Oh wow, he got there quick," Daisy said. "We like, totally met him the other day when we were digging round Sootopolis for info. Strange to see him without his boyfriend by his side."

" _Daisy_ ," Misty said with a sigh, "I don't think Steven's interested in him that way."

"Oh _please_ , I've never been wrong with a thing like this. I know when people are meant to be together. It's like, my superpower."

"Of _course_ it is Daisy."

"Just you wait, little sis. One day you'll meet a guy or girl and I'll totally be able to tell whether you two will be a thing or not."

"You know, for such a love guru, you'd think you'd be able to sort your _own_ lovelife first."

"Oh, _low_ blow!" Daisy said with a wince. She sighed as she grabbed her drink and took another sip. "But what can I say? I'm like, too young and beautiful to settle down. I'm like, gonna enjoy my body before my lady parts start to sag."

"Oh Daisy, _gross_! I did _not_ need that mental image!"

"Happens to us all, Double-Em," Daisy said with a cackle. Draining her drink with a loud slurping sound, she smacked her lips and made a gesture for her waiter to come back. "Anyway, Hoenn's great. It's like, perfect sunbathing weather, the eyecandy is enough to give a girl diabetes and our pokémon are _loving_ the amount of ocean and water over here. It would have been good if you had chosen to come with though."

"It would have," Misty said with a smile. "But, I need to figure things out for myself."

"I know, I like, totally get it," Daisy said. She gestured for her drink to be refilled and Misty pointed the phone in another direction as her sister pulled a bill from her tiny bikini top that made Misty honestly wonder how she had yet to be arrested for public indecency. "But like, don't forget this is for you to go out and figure out what _you_ want to do. Like, leave the heavy stuff to us."

"Daisy-"

"No, I mean it, Misty," Daisy said. "Yeah you're our baby sister and like, we totally give you shit for it, but that doesn't mean we'd expect you to like, not have a normal childhood. Like, I know we're all not exactly down the road, but we're only ever a phone call away. And if it's like, deadly serious, we'll drop everything and be there. You know that."

"I know," Misty said. Her mind was alive with Will's face. She imagined watching his surprise as she crushed him in a pokémon battle, then imagined getting to witness the police cart him away to a dark, deep hole and throw him in, never to be seen again. "But everything's good!" she said, worrying that perhaps she had put _too much_ false cheer into her voice.

"Well, if you say so." It was easy to forget that Daisy was a lot harder to fool than she appeared. "In that case then, I guess I'll let you get on with your day. Be safe, little sis."

"You take care too," Misty said. "Tell Lily and Violet I said hi."

"Will do! Love you!"

"Love you too."

With a sigh Misty locked her phone and placed it back in her pocket. It was so easy to lie, to pretend that she was fine and that nothing was worrying her. If she was certain of nothing else, it was that the only way she was going to get stronger was to continue to face her fears and meet the challenges head on. If she needed help, she would ask for it. Until then, Misty was determined to prove that she was more than just the fourth Sensational Sister, and the youngest member of a failed Gym.

"Next time we talk, I'll have results," she promised. "So let's see if you're able to keep up, big sisters."

 **-0-0-0-**

Wallace breathed in the cold, crisp dawn air. Shivering, he buried his hands beneath his armpits and exhaled, his jaw trembling loudly.

"You're always cold," Steven commented, unhelpfully.

"You're always moody," he threw back, baring his teeth.

Steven laughed. "Just distracting you from your nerves, friend."

"Remind me to appreciate you when you're not being an asshole. Oh wait, that's _never_." Growling, Wallace looked up at the Viridian gym's closed doors. "Where is he?"

"We're five minutes early," Steven said. "One can hardly blame him for being on time." Glancing through the glass doors, he added, "Though it seems he comes to relieve us from the _scary cold_ now."

"Asshole," Wallace muttered, glaring. The moment the doors open, he forced stoicism and slid his hands from his armpits to the pockets of his dark blue winter jacket. "Giovanni," he said, nodding.

"Gentlemen." Giovanni was dressed in sharp, almost fitted dark green tactical wear. Wallace had heard once that the man had spent some time in the army, working as a mercenary before found his calling back in Kanto. Honestly, he had found the tales intriguing, of how he moved from working in bars to owning a franchise of them, and furthering his reach into the stock markets, restaurants, estate agents and construction.

He locked the doors behind them, where they echoed endlessly in the cold, empty gym. The clinical white lights of the gym seemed alien in contrast to the early morning sun.

"I have a few last things to collect from the battlefield," he said, leading them towards it. "I hope you don't mind. My son wanted one last battle before I left, so I could not help but oblige."

Having spent a large amount of time in his own gym when all was quiet, Wallace found himself basking in the familiar unfamiliarity of the silence. He missed the smell of chlorine from his own swimming pools, and the sounds of the waterfalls from his freshwater enclosures. He even missed the hum of the purifying tanks that would keep all his water clean. Giovanni's gym had no such comforts. In contrast it almost felt barren - though having seen the gym Steven once owned, Wallace had a true barren comparison to measure against.

As they walked into the battlefield, Wallace could not help but frown. There were no recent signs of battle. The porygon artificial intelligence that ran the gym's repair programme should have still been running, inspecting for damage.

"Just give me two minutes, gentlemen," Giovanni said.

Wallace caught the flick of his wrist, the concealed button in his palm. His heart raced. Something was off. Something was _wrong_.

He grabbed his swampert's poké ball and activated it.

Nothing happened.

He pressed the button once, twice more. Each time his pokémon failed to come to his call.

"Something's wrong," Wallace hissed, grabbing Steven's arm. "My poké balls aren't working."

Steven's eyes went to his hairline in surprise. Wallace watched as he activated the poké ball he kept hidden in his right cuff link. Nothing. His breath caught in his throat. What was going on?

"Gentlemen," Giovanni said, his back to them. He raised his other hand, a small device held within it. "Don't bother calling your pokémon. A dampening field is surrounding the gym, preventing them from working."

"That technology is _illegal_!" Wallace hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Remaining atop of the food chain." He pressed the device in his hand. Safety shutters ran down the doors. Metal plates blocked the exits from the battlefield. The world plunged into darkness.

One by one, the gym's emergency lighting came back on. It lit up the world in a dull, sick green tone.

"Giovanni!" Steven barked. "Cease this at once!" He cracked his knuckles. "I do not require my pokémon to take you down."

Giovanni's laugh echoed throughout the room. It was a dark, _evil_ laugh that set Wallace's entire being on edge.

"I may take you up on that offer, another time." He walked to his side of the battlefield, beyond the safety net. Wallace recognised it as where Giovanni hid the controls to secret elevator to his office. He tried to race after him, to stop him. Impossibly, his legs failed to move. He tried to look at Steven. His entire body was frozen, paralysed by an unseen force.

"Don't try moving, either," Giovanni continued, his voice reaching them as if he was stood beside them. "In fact, this may be easier for you both if you accept your fates." He pressed a button on the wall and slid his palm into a recess that emerged. The lights flicked and began to die, one by one.

"Erase their memories of what they discovered in Mount Silver. Make them remember our conversation differently; I assuaged their concerns with Kanto. They can return to Hoenn and cease their concerns with our nation."

The lights faded, plunging them into absolute darkness. Wallace heard the screeching sound of a metal door opening.

The last thing he saw was a glowing blue pair of eyes. After that, everything disappeared beneath the searing _agony_ in his mind.


	5. Interlude - I

Gary had been in Pewter City for all of three days and had already beaten the gym leader, claiming his first step towards reaching the Pokémon League.

He was still smiling to himself as he bounced around the local Pokémart, almost dancing as he filled his trolley, crossing things off his mental list as he went.

He had planned for Donnie to start fighting in the gym, with a backup consisting of Shadow and Ursa. As it had turned out, Donnie was enough on his own to bring down both of the gym leader's pokémon.

Yet despite all his planning, his battle with Ash continued to replay in his mind. It had nearly been two weeks since then and yet he still struggled to understand just _how_ Ash's mind seemed to work. His grandpa had agreed that teaching a _mankey_ of all things was a novel notion.

He had also used the opportunity to further lecture him about the importance of not relying solely on battle plans. Each battle was a different fight and there was no one method that suited everything.

What his grandpa failed to understand, it seemed, was that Gary _always_ had a plan for everything. His long term goals were written up and stored on his pokédex. He checked against them once a week to monitor his progress. He set himself weekly targets and monthly goals. Each of his pokémon had a plan for battle tactics and Gary had already marked out what he was going to teach them and the roles they would fit in his team.

If he was to be stronger than Lance, stronger than his Grandpa and stronger than _anyone_ else, Gary would make damn sure that even his weakest link was something that would give even the Gym Leaders nightmares.

It took five minutes to pay for his purchases, and another ten to pack them away into the relevant storage compartments of his bag. He would sort through and break up the food into portions for meals, leaving enough leftover for emergencies and any additional captures. His own meals would be portioned out, ready for when he needed them. He had his own exercise and training regimes drawn up and registered alongside those of his pokémon.

Daisy liked to tease him about how much he planned for everything. When he had called her to celebrate his victory against Brock, it had taken all of five minutes for the conversation to turn to her prodding him to see if any of his strategies had fallen through. She had questioned why he had bought nutritional mixes for every type of pokémon when he only had a handful at present.

He reminded her that he planned for _everything_.

As it was, he had allowed himself some free time to explore Pewter. He had another night in the city before moving on. As much as he wanted to keep a pokémon out with him, none of his current team were a good idea to have out in public. Shadow was an eevee with a silver coat - he would be constantly on alert to make certain there was no one following him trying to steal the pokémon. Donnie would struggle with walking that much, Ursa was cute and cuddly, but still a teddiursa, which meant fangs and claws near people. His newly caught scyther still needed some training before being out around people and Talon, despite being well behaved, was still a spearow. Given the farmlands around Pewter and the livestock they reared around the city that was routinely ravaged by spearow flocks, there was no real love for the birds amongst the populus.

Without his pokémon for companionship, he made a beeline for the Pewter Museum. Built into the side of the mountains on the north of the city, it was almost impossible to be anywhere in Pewter and not see the white marble columns decorating the entrance. Gary made his way there, smiling as he reached the base of the stone steps that lead to the entrance. He could remember visiting with his parents, back when he was so small that he had to _literally_ climb up the steps. As it was, they were still somewhat of a challenge, leaving him more breathless than he would care to admit.

It reminded him of the hiker paths up the likes of Mount Silver. Some of the older Kanjo religions still had shrines at the very top of the mountains, and there were dedicated ranger teams to make sure the paths were kept as danger-free as possible. Some made the trip only once a year, some once a month. The last time Gary had tried it, he had been aghast to realise that there were people in their _eighties_ dealing with the climb with more ease than he was.

He added another exercise to his mental list, making a note to add it to the pokédex later. All pokémon centres had gyms for general use and he had made a habit of starting to use them anyway, so it was merely one more item on the agenda that he could add in.

Admission was still that paltry sum of fifty poké. It was interesting to see that the museum received so much funding from the League that they were able to charge such a base rate. Unlike the League itself - once upon a time, tourists and trainers had been able to pass through the League's gates to victory road. Now, thanks to whatever catastrophe the media had yet to publish, they had erected blockages along the way, manned by rangers who would check their badges before granting them access.

Part of Gary wanted to go back to the spot-faced ranger that had denied him entry and shove his badge down the guy's throat. The calmer, more logical side of him reminded him that to be a ranger, the guy would have to have at _least_ eight badges.

So he would have to wait just a little bit longer for petty revenge. Possibly after he had five badges. If nothing else, Gary would make sure to add 'overachiever' to his list of accomplishments.

As Gary rolled up his jacket and stuffed it into a locker, he caught sight of a _lucario_ of all things sat on a bench against the wall. It looked downright _bored_ as it rolled a coin between its fingers. Gary hastened in stuffing his bag into the locker, locked it shut behind him and angled towards the pokémon.

It barely spared him a passing glance. It had crossed one leg over the other knee and resting its chin in a hand, continued to roll the coin with its free hand. As the person in a locker in front of the pokémon shut the door, the pokémon's ears perked up and suddenly, it sat up straight.

The trainer - because Gary could only assume a pokémon would be that excited when its trainer was paying attention to it - had dark brown hair cut in such a way that it reminded him of an acorn. He was pale, with a long, stainless white shirt that was open and reached his hips. It had pockets at the bottom, which made Gary picture it as a lab coat. The t shirt beneath was the same shade of pale green as the trainer's eyes - Gary noticed it immediately as the trainer turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

Lucario were _amazing_ pokémon. They were capable of long ranged and close attacks, and were one of the smartest possible creatures in existence, behind psychic types. Their powers with aura were what first drove humans to investigate _chi_ , and Gary had read some papers saying that it was by training alongside a lucario that humanity had first come across the concept of chakras.

Plus they were so damn _cool_.

Gary swallowed to stop himself from squeaking and just nerding out about the pokémon. Instead he smiled at the trainer and asked, "Is it alright to scan your lucario? Not everyday you see one in Kanto."

The trainer blinked slowly, as if he were in a daze. "Sure," he said, finally. "Go ahead. Lucario, you don't mind, do you?"

The pokémon barked as it shook its head. Gary was grinning as he booted up the scan function of his pokédex and added the pokémon's data. The numbers, whilst not anything particularly special, felt somehow off. Gary was reminded of his Grandpa's advice, warning him that the pokédex worked off several algorithms, laws of averages and with a lot of assumptions. There was a reason why most expert trainers no longer used them - and indeed, why the Elites, amongst others, only needed to spend time with certain pokémon to understand their abilities.

"Thanks," Gary said, smiling as he slid his pokédex back into his pocket. "I'm Gary by the way."

The trainer nodded at him. "Sorrel." His lucario rose to its feet, towering over the both of them.

"So what brings you to Kanto?" Gary asked. Even he was uncertain why he felt the need to keep the trainer around, but there was just _something_ about him that made Gary feel like he would be missing out were he to just let him leave.

"Lucario and I are interested in the mythical and legendary pokémon," Sorrel said. He moved out of the way as people inched past them to reach more lockers, yet never once broke eye contact with Gary. "All myths and legends have some truth in them, after all."

There was something in the way he said it, a _conviction_ that stopped Gary from snorting and dismissing the notion instantly. There were always rumours about mythical pokémon, about titans stronger than any people could hope to defeat. Each country had their own mythology and Kanto was no different. The personifications of storms, blizzards and fire were constant features around festival time, decorating pots, tapestries and clothing.

Gary had always assumed they were capable of being explained away scientifically. Only as he locked eyes with the trainer did he truly begin to doubt for the first time.

"That sounds like it'd be amazing to figure out," he said, not dishonestly. "I'd love to read about something like that."

"Maybe a publication, eventually. Until then, we're content simply assuaging our curiosity." He shared a look with the lucario that seemed almost as if they were having a complete conversation. "And what of you, Gary? What do you intend to do?"

"Become the Champion."

Sorrel smiled, just a little. "And after that?"

"Change the world, for the better," Gary answered.

"And after that?"

Gary faltered. "What do you mean?"

Sorrel pulled free his own pokedex and showed Gary the display. Gary felt his breath catch. The trainer had no less than _thirty_ badges, all from different regions, some of which Gary had never heard of.

"Being a Champion doesn't mean that you can't have other interests," he said as he placed the pokédex back in his pocket. "Cynthia of Sinnoh is an archaeologist and a historian. Steven of Hoenn is a meteorologist. Even Lance, here in Kanto, works with the police as a sorts of detective. A person is defined by more than their ability as a trainer. Think of how the world is changed with the dawn of new information."

"I…" For once, Gary was at a loss for words. He closed his mouth as he shook his head. "I guess I haven't thought that far ahead."

"My advice?" Sorrel glanced at his Lucario and smiled. "Never have only one goal. Have as many dreams as you can keep hold of. Maybe one day you'll discover that your happiness may come from something you never considered."

"Thanks," Gary whispered. "And here I came just to look at some history, not get advice for the future."

"It's only by learning from the past that we can build a better future." Sorrel tucked his hands into the pockets on his shirt, reminding Gary very much of several technicians in his grandpa's lab. "It was good talking to you, Gary. I wish you well for your travels."

"You too," Gary said, feeling somewhat mollified. His mind was in a black hole of swirling emotions as the other trainer exited the locker room. He tried to play off the conversation as nothing, but found that he kept zipping back to one key point.

He had never considered what life would be like after he rid the world of Team Rocket. Was it enough to be a Champion?

Once he had thought that Daisy was giving up on a trainer's life. When she had returned home to Pallet to open her own pokémon salon, he had decided that she had flaked out on achieving greatness. Auntie Aggie and Grandpa had both dominated the world with their skills and abilities. Though they were both experts in their fields, Gary had always assumed that had happened as a result of their prowess as trainers.

"Huh," Gary grunted. For the first time, he found himself at a loss with what to do with himself.

He decided that it was _not_ a feeling he enjoyed.


End file.
